Beyond the Veil Book 3: Deception
by megamatt09
Summary: Deception, insanity, and adventure, along with everything else that goes along with being a superhero in Book Three of the Beyond the Veil Series. Harry/Multi. Marvel/DC/Harry Potter Crossover.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 01: World Under Siege Part One. **

"This is Cat Grant….with Daily Bugle Communications….trying to get to you the news, assuming that there's anyone left out there to get the news to, the…..the Earth has been invaded by a hostile Alien force….they're here and they're…..they're coming for us….they're here."

Cat's eyes tracked upwards as she once again came face to face with what appeared to be Norman Osborn, for the second time that day. Her eyes wide with fear, she couldn't help but notice that Osborn was hovering an inch or two off the ground. He was no longer dressed up as the Green Goblin instead he now wore a set of dark battle robes.

"Ah, the media, well I suppose the rabble will be amused by anything these days," Osborn commented as he placed his hand on Cat's shoulder and the blonde shivered underneath his grip. The blonde closed her eyes as she felt a numbness spread throughout her body. "So, you wish to spread a message but there are no longer any ears out there to listen. The world is blind to your plight and it's even more ignorant to the fact that their heroes are failing."

"There will…."

"The General has not given you permission to speak, worm," one of the guards stated as he grabbed Cat by the hair. "So frail, so fragile, so helpless, I could pop your…."

"Enough," Zod stated. "She's nothing but a cockroach, just like all of them are cockroaches. And they cannot stop us."

"Well the irredeemable Cockroach-Man might not be able to defeat you but how about your friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!"

Zod turned to face the Web Slinger as he flipped off him after trying to drop kick him in the head.

'_He's merely a child parading around in a Halloween costume,' _Osborn advised Zod. _'I trust you can take him out without any problem.'_

Zod nodded at the voice in his head as the Web Slinger bounced backwards and landed in a low crouch against the closest wall. He immediately fired off a web line which latched onto the wrist of one of the Kryptonian soldiers.

The Soldier shifted his hand so he was gripping onto the web line and Peter got the impression that this was not going to end well for him. A loud snap echoed outwards as he yanked hard on the line pulling Spider-man towards him into a vicious clothes line that sent the Web Head flying ass over tea kettle due to the force of the blow.

'_Yeah, this wasn't such a hot idea,' _the Web Slinger managed as he felt like he was going to hack up his ribs alongside the blood that he did cough up. The super powerful blow that he suffered was proof positive of that fact and the Web Head used his feet to block the follow up attack. He had to fight, no matter what happened, no matter what the situation was, he had to keep fighting until his final breath.

As his new found resolve filled his body, he twisted impossibly in mid-air and delivered a vicious hay maker that impacted against his foe's face with the same force as a semi-truck going at full speed.

'_Hmm I can almost see why this gave you trouble. No matter, I was merely caught off guard, he will kneel before Zod like all the rest,' _Zod commented dryly to Osborn.

Out of nowhere a massive optic blast from Cyclops knocked Zod backwards a few steps due to it's force.

"Amusing," Zod commented in a bored voice as he blocked another optic blast with his hand. Blurring forwards he nailed Cyclops with a huge punch to the back of his head.

Jubilee sent a stream of fireworks into Zod's face which caused him to back off a few inches.

"YAY, I GOT…"

Before Jubilee could be nailed in the side of the face by an unamused Zod, Nightcrawler bamfed in from out of nowhere and transported her clear of the danger. A look of supreme irritation flashed across the General's face as the young oriental mutant escaped her proper punishment. Taking advantage of his distraction an enraged Logan rushed over his razor sharp adamantium claws extended.

Due to his savage ferocity the Wolverine was able to score a strike across the Kryptonian dictator's chest, though it did little more then leave three long scratches against his skin.

Shifting backwards every so slightly Zod effortlessly dodged the rest of the berserk Canadian's barrage. He followed that up by grabbing Wolverine by the wrists he yanked them hard to the side then used his heat vision to burn off Logan's skin. The mutant gave a loud scream as he felt the agony of his flesh being melted.

Just because he had a healing factor, didn't mean that the pain was negated. He still felt every single agonizing moment.

Storm created a level of fog, hoping that would be able to mask their next attack. However, the Kryptonians were able to see through any fog with their X-Ray vision.

Captain America turned up with a shield in his hand and he flung it at Zod, who caught it within his hand with little effort stopping it's momentum dead.

"Amusing, a hallow symbol of hope," Osborn stated with disdain, spinning in a rapid three sixty he hurled the shield back at Captain America who jumped over it at the last second in order to avoid it. The Star Spangled Avenger landed on his feet, staying calm, cool, and collected.

A huge punch from Captain America was blocked was Zod hoisted off of the ground by his neck. His feet were swinging back and forth as Osborn drove him into the ground then dragged him forwards before lifting him back up into the air and tossing him to the side like the piece of trash he thought the first Avenger was.

"Alright, that's it!" Hulk growled as he went for Zod and he nailed him with a huge punch.

The General's jaw was knocked back and he felt the pain. He had to wait for the healing factor to kick in but the Hulk nailed him in the ribs. He blocked a third punch but the Hulk's strength was good.

He saw two of his Kryptonians having trouble with a blonde woman who exhibited Kree powers. That annoyed Zod and he would kill her just for that.

"Are you about to give up, monster?" Zod asked but Hulk shoved him back. Blood splattered from Osborn's mouth as Zod looked at him.

"Never," Hulk growled as he tried to smash in Zod's skull but he used speed and agility to get around the brute's attacks.

"I've enjoyed a challenge," Zod stated as he grabbed Hulk around the head and smashed him into the wall. The Hulk smashed into his chest but Zod picked him up and hurled him across several states with a great force. His ribs were cracked but the General still managed a few cutting words, despite the sudden shortness of breath "Or I would if you were one."

"You've seen nothing yet," Iron Man stated as he blasted Zod.

"Inferior man of iron," Zod growled out with supreme annoyance as he slammed his hand into the chest of his enemy causing the chest plate to buckle inwards as time seemed to stop briefly before Iron Man blasted backwards due to the force of the blow. "You waste my time."

Iron Man skidded to a halt as he was able to use his repulsors and jets to arrest his momentum. Wasp tried to fire at Zod but her attempts to stop him were futile. Her Wasp sting having the same effect a pea shooter would have on a tank.

Spider-Man nailed him across the back of the head causing his head to snap forwards briefly. The crazed Kryptonian responded by grabbing the Web Slinger by the ankle and throwing off to the side through the closest window.

The two exchanged punches that rocked each other back and forth, as they tried to take their enemy down.

"You will kneel before Zod," The General ordered as he tried to drive Steve Rogers to his knees.

Needless to say, Captain America wouldn't kneel before another man any time soon and his action spoke louder than any words as he nailed his enemy with a rocket buster of a shield slam to the chin that sent him flying back a few steps.

Zod stepped backwards into a defensive stance in order to collect himself.

'_Well you've got this one under perfect control,' _Osborn stated to Zod in a bored tone. _'I'd fry him if I was you.'_

'_Just wait and watch for the master to take control,' _Zod stated as he refused to be rattled by this Green Goblin even though he was making several unhelpful comments from the other side of the link as he blocked the Star Spangled Avengers fist as he attacked once more by catching it in the palm of his hand.

Steve Rogers, super strong as he was, was pushed backwards several feet by the Kryptonian General director.

Zod felt like he was just getting warmed up despite the fact that these heroes were bringing the fight to him on a level he'd never experienced before. The longer he was under the embrace of the yellow sun, the stronger that he would get and the weaker that he would be. So he merely needed to fight a defensive battle.

"Is there anyone who wishes to pose a challenge to General Zod?" he asked.

"You know talking in the third person is a sign of insanity, don't you?"

Karen flew in, dressed in a white top, jacket, and dress pants. Her old costume didn't quite fit her anymore but that didn't stop her from drilling Zod in the side of the head with a huge punch. She had to stall him until Helena got the contingency plan in place.

Her old costume didn't quite fit her anymore but that did not stop her from drilling Zod into the side of the head with a huge punch.

"Faora, take care of her," Zod ordered and a dark haired blur shot through the sky that tried to nail Karen in the side of the face. She dodged the punch and nailed Faora in the side of the face.

The two of them struggled as the battle continued on the ground.

* * *

The Phantom Zone was not a friendly place to be in, no matter how anyone looked at it.

"So on a scale of one to we're really screwed, how bad is this?"

Kara looked at Kitty with a raised eyebrow, a strained smile and an expression on her face like she'd been asked the stupidest question in the world. "What do you think?"

"Oh, that bad, huh?" Kitty asked and Kara nodded.

"Yes, Kitty, it's that bad, actually it's worse than that bad," Harry offered as he did a head count, all of his girls were here. "Well I've got bad news and worse news."

"Isn't it always that way with you?" Gwen asked with a slight smile but she was silenced by the exasperated look on both Kara and Harry's faces, the looks Jean, Kitty, and Rogue where given her weren't much better. Sighing softly, Gwen tried to contact the outside world.

"Won't work, the Phantom Zone blocks most external forms of communication," Harry said to the group.

"And you say most because…." Jean offered as she trailed off and allowed Harry to answer the question.

"I say most because Zod found a way to communicate with his underlings on the other side of the Phantom Zone," Harry told the girls and they all nodded in understanding.

"I figured as much," Jean offered but she could sense the Phoenix was getting uneasy which never was a good thing. _'What is it now?'_

'_There are things in this Phantom Zone that….well I'll put it bluntly, I'm not too fond of,' _Phoenix offered Jean and she knew that if Phoenix was disturbed by what was happening, then there was cause to be really worried.

"We've got to keep moving," Rogue offered them and that was a statement that all of them could agree on as they continued their trip through the Zone.

"There's got to be a way out of here," Wanda stated as she raised her hands but stopped. "And my powers don't work."

"Powers seldom work in the Phantom Zone, well in certain parts they work better than others," Kara informed Wanda and the smile on her face faded. "It's kind of hard to explain and by hard to explain I mean worse then trying to explain the mathematics involved with time travel and the creation of new time lines based on the events that may or may not have been changed by something as simple as sneezing or theoretical cross-dimensional portal physics."

"I see….I see," Wanda offered as she bit down on her lip in frustration but Harry grabbed her hand.

"We'll find a way out, don't worry," Harry told Wanda and she was not worried, well not completely.

Kitty's eyes nearly bugged out and it was for a good reason as she stepped on a dried up husk that was on the ground in front of her. Her stomach twisted into a knot and there was one word that escaped her mouth.

"Um, no offense, but EWW! ..So totally EWW!" Kitty exclaimed loudly as Gwen and Wanda exchanged a nervous look with each other.

"Yeah….I agree with that….that thing was alive once," Laura offered as she sniffed the air. "There's decay….and something else out there….but we can't see them."

"Phantoms," Kara whispered as she looked up and they heard the eerie screams of several haunting voices all around them.

"Listen to me, in the Phantom Zone, it's kill or be killed." Harry ordered them as calmly as he could be in this situation and the girls nodded. "Don't hold back, not even for a minute, or we won't make it out of this alive!"

Kara wished she could fly as did Harry. This area of the Phantom Zone was not conducive to using their powers.

Jean dropped to her knees and screamed in pain. Her mind was being bombarded by the tormented thoughts of those who died here and where now damned to haunt this place for all time. Rogue and Kitty grabbed Jean by her arms and lifted her up to her feet, even though she was pretty much dead weight.

"The exit portal is around here somewhere, isn't it?" Harry asked Kara and the blonde nodded her head furiously, looking like a blurring bobblehead as she did so.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, exit portal, it's over there, where all of those Phantoms are," Kara commented with a rapid intensity that made it sound like she was on a sugar high though there was a certain meekness to her tone.

"Of course it is," Wanda offered wishing that she could use her powers but punching them out seemed to work out fairly well. Her knuckles cracked against them satisfyingly enough. "Is there any area of this Phantom Zone place where I could use my powers, a bit more easily?"

"I wish…yeah around here somewhere. But considering what your powers did to Riddle it might turn them into massive beach balls of death," Harry offered to her as his heart pumped at a steady pace within his chest.

He saw it, as it dreaded it, there were civilians on the ground, which was going to make this far harder to deal than he hoped. Harry kept taking tentative steps forward.

A barrage of arrows from Hawkeye did very little to deter the Phantoms although Harry supposed that it was better than nothing.

"Hey, Arcane, could do with a bit of that hocus pocus right now!" Hawkeye yelled.

"Sorry, I would if I could," Harry stated and Agent Mimic blasted one of the Phantoms with her wrist gauntlet.

"Well, we need something to even the scales because these things…."

"Protect the civilians," Natasha stated in a fierce voice as she tried to nail her enemies with all that she had. The Widow's Bite managed to back them off just a slight bit but they were not out of the woods yet.

The Phantoms bounced back and there was a huge crack that resounded all through the Phantom Zone as they kept at them, never yielding once in their attack.

They encountered more dead bodies of the criminals that had been banished into the Phantom Zone but had long since been consumed by the Wraiths. It was a grisly sight for certain and it turned the stomach.

Harry suddenly found him able to access the full scope of his abilities.

"Power's back!" Harry yelled and he decided to strike whilst the iron was hot, using the heat vision to propel into them.

'_It's useless if we can't get to the escape portal,' _Kara thought frantically as she propelled herself into the Phantoms, using a combat dagger she'd found near one of the bodies to stab at them.

'_We'll find a way, we always do,' _Harry thought to her, and Kara nodded.

As long as there was life, there was always hope.

* * *

The phrase "if at first you don't succeed, try, try, again" was something that was applied to the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in spades. He was going up against the dastardly combined entity that was Norman Osborn and General Zod.

Needless to say, the first attempt to take Zod down did not work so well but Spider-Man was not a quitter, he kept trying again and again, to the point where it was almost absurd how many times he went back and forth to that well.

"Just give up, you're embarrassing yourself," Zod stated. "Come to me, kneel before Zod, and you'll be spared."

"You know, you can just come out of the closet already. We won't judge, it's obvious you get off on getting other men to kneel before you," Spider-Man managed but it was hard to quip with busted ribs.

"Do you ever shut up?" Zod asked.

'_No,' _Osborn commented lightly from deep within his mind but Zod refused to acknowledge the voice in his head.

Faora and Karen had their hands intertwined as they pushed back and forth attempting to gain leverage on the other.

Karen gritted her teeth as her suit jacket was ripped open by Faora, who then knocked Karen back a few inches with a huge rocket buster of a punch to the ribs. The blonde fired back with one of her own and they sent their heat vision against each other.

"You know, a fine specimen like yourself, there is no need for us to be fighting. If your a good girl and play nicely perhaps the General will let me keep you," Faora offered as her eyes were fixated on a certain part of Karen's anatomy. "It's a pity that the General sent the Star Child away, I'm sure he would have been fun to play with as well."

"More so than an obsessed nutcase who gets off on making other men kneel before him," Karen offered as she grabbed Faora in a headlock but Faora countered by flipping her out of it with a backdrop driver, intending to drive her into the pavement head first.

Karen was able to shift just enough that she gracefully landed on her feet. Faora grabbed her and ripped the front of her shirt open, causing a large hole to appear where her breasts were.

"Nice armor, you'd look better without it, though," Karen offered as she aimed a punch but Faora blocked it.

"I never give up that much on the first date," Faora countered as she knocked Karen back but the top half of the armor was slightly damaged by Karen's latest attack.

Karen could see that her pants were slightly torn, but clothes were the least of her worries. Faora spearing her into the giant billboard with J. Jonah Jameson's face on it was far more bothersome.

The two females crashed into a huge puddle of mud and they rolled over, exchanging punches with each other.

Karen's clothes where mostly drenched and torn now as she was soaking wet with mud, mud that Faora was trying to drown her in. Faora sat on her face and gripped her thighs around her head tightly as she held her down beneath the water, but Karen fired back by rolling Faora over into a pinning predicament. Grabbing hold of her armor she ripped it off her with savage roar. Faora responded to this by using her heat vision to launch Karen back, burning open the front of her shirt and revealing her bra clad mountains to the world in the process.

Karen rolled Faora over and pinned her down, removing her armor but Faora used heat vision to launch Karen back, burning off part of her outfit.

'_That contingency would be good any time now,' _Karen thought as she saw Emma and Selene discreetly make their way onto the scene, although what they will be planning she could only pick up.

"We'll take care of the rest….keep the female as a souvenir for our Lord."

"My thoughts exactly, Emma."

Elsewhere on the ground, more guests had joined the battle.

"IT'S CLOBBERING TIME!"

The Thing rushed forward, barreling over several of the soldiers like a freight train before a combined effort was able to knock him back.

"A creature made of rock, the humans must be desperate to have such a primitive and pathetic warrior," one of the Kryptonians commented in a snide voice.

There was a huge crash as the Thing drove him into the ground like a railway spike with a stone pillar he'd lifted up off the ground.

"I'm sorry, pathetic?" the Thing asked as he went hand to hand with one of the other Kryptonians.

The Invisible Woman slipped in. The fact that Harry disappeared into nothingness was weighing on her heavily, about as much as the hovering discs that were appearing.

"Reed, you know about this stuff, what are these things?" Johnny asked.

"I'm not sure, but I'd really like to study one up close," Reed offered as he had a look on his face that most boys had when they spotted their first set of naked breasts.

"Okay Reed, you can marry the alien technology later, but while you're gawking, I'm going to be doing something," Johnny offered as he closed his eyes and yelled out. "FLAME ON!"

Johnny shot up into the air.

"Johnny wait…"

A huge beam shot out from one of the discs causing him his powers to short out and sending him crashing into the ground.

"Okay, that's just a minor setback," Johnny offered weakly but his nerve endings were all on fire to the point where he could not sit up properly. His ribs were cracked, his liver and kidneys ached, his knees felt like they were frozen, he was not in a good shape.

"What's that?"

Reed looked over and saw them arrive.

"Doom Bots, that's just what we need," Reed stated with a grimace. Trust Victor to try and capitalize on something like this.

"And they're coming in droves," Susan stated as she used the shields to block the drones hovering above her head.

Surprisingly, the Doom Bots started to fire on the hovering drones, to Reed's great surprise.

"Do you not think that DOOM will allow some inferior pretender to just sweep in and claim this world for his own, Richards!" Doom told him in a booming voice. "No, this world is DOOM'S! And I will not allow this Zod to take it from me without a fight. He will fall before my might just like any other!"

"Mostly because you want it for yourself," Johnny whispered but Doom ignored him, he had little time for brainless insects with the IQ of a fruit fly.

Pointing his gauntlets in the direction of the several of the Kryptonian drones. Doom proceeded to fire off a laser beam from each of his finger tips which punched through them with the force of a rail gun.

Captain America was still breathing, so Captain America was still fighting. As long as there was blood pumping through his body, he would be able to take down his enemies.

He did a forward roll with his shield and flung it into the air, as Iron Man blasted one of the drones with his unibeam.

"I've got bad news and worse news!" Iron Man stated to the team and Wasp closed her eyes in frustration as she started to blast the drones but her stingers were not getting her anywhere.

"What's the bad news?"

"The bad news is that these things are repairing themselves so quickly that we can't destroy them," Iron Man stated as he pointed towards where one of the drones was healing itself up.

"Where does someone get technology like this?" Wasp asked as a huge explosion rattled their hearing.

"And the worse news?" Captain America grimaced, he was doing his best to keep steady and everyone calm so they could deal with this situation.

He saw Nightcrawler teleport a few injured civilians out of the way, before a large billboard crashed onto them.

"The worse news is that none of us will be around to worry about it for much longer," Iron Man informed them as he let in a breath. "He's planning to transport all organic life on Earth that isn't Kryptonian into some kind of dimension between dimensions, a zone that is everywhere but nowhere."

"What can we do to stop it through?" Wasp asked as she pushed back. "Tony, you're smart, surely you could figure this out!"

"Give me a minute to figure it out, I'm closer than I think that he thinks that I should be," Stark told her in frustration.

"If only Arcane was here, he'd know what to do," Wasp muttered.

Spider-Man had been knocked rather hard to the ground with several Kryptonian soldiers where looming over them when suddenly they were blasted back by Electro of all people. The invaders had broken open Ryker's Island and released a few of the guests.

"Hey, webs, look alive, wouldn't want you to croak before I'd get a chance to do it myself!" Electro yelled as he looked at Spider-Man.

"Wait, what….what…I don't understand?"

Electro shook his head. "It's quite simple really, if this Zod creep takes over the world, they're going to be nothing left to rob."

Somehow in Spider-Man's concussed head, that made sense.

Rhino rushed in charging forwards with his horn held low to the ground. He ended up catching one of the soldier underneath his legs and lifting his head upwards suddenly sent him flipping upwards into the sky.

The Wrecking Crew, Zemo, The Crimson Dynamo, and the Abomination stepped forward as well.

"What are you doing here?" Captain America challenged him.

Zemo watched him. "Now, Captain, I would hate to leave your demise to the hands of anyone but myself."

With that said he pulled out a large energy weapon that he used to cause a great deal of damage to one of the Kryptonians.

Rachel made a mental note to tell Harry in the future that Zemo had developed a weapon that could harm Kryptonians but she was kind of glad that he had it right now.

She could not reach Harry or the others over the bond and their forces were dropping fast.

Zod had vanished but Rachel could have sworn that she saw something else arriving out of the corner of her eye.

* * *

Back in the Phantom Zone, Harry felt determination flow through his body. He'd generated a force shield to try and push back the attacking Phantoms back but they kept coming.

"No matter what, we need to get to the portal and get everyone who got trapped in here by Zod out of here," Harry managed in a strained voice.

Wanda, now she had her powers back, managed to blast the Phantoms. Her hex bolt were working with various degrees of success although she was holding back a lot. Harry's comment about massive beach balls of death had freaked her quite a bit. Also trying to distort reality in a place where reality was already distorted, that was a huge problem. The woman held her hand into the air and once again blasted them back. She heard the sinister heart beats.

"Yeah, easier said than done," Kara stated as she used heat vision on the ground.

"Got to try," Black Widow offered as she did a duck and roll as she did so Mimic fired a huge blaster over top of her which punched right through several of them.

The phantoms were slowly being driven backwards and Harry offered a slight smile as the group kept moving forward.

'_Zod would have to leave guards,' _Kara thought with an exasperated sigh and Harry grabbed onto her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

'_We'll find a way, Kara,'_ Harry thought to the blonde, as the two of them closed their eyes and raised their hands into the air then conjured their Patroni. The Nightwing and Flamebird they summoned forth blasted outwards in a twisting corkscrew of dancing light that caused any Phantoms they touched to burst into flames. Unfortunately the attack took quite a lot out of them.

The psychic assault the Phantoms caused by their very presence was forcing Jean to keep as tight a grip on her powers that she was capable of.

'_Is there any reason why you're completely freaking out?' _Jean thought to the Phoenix Force and there was a second where the Phoenix paused. _'Any good reason at all?'_

'_Well there is a good reason, this Phantom Zone was meant to drive the prisoners insane because it was a torment for the most horrible criminals,' _The Phoenix explained as she tried to keep it together and thankfully Jean was strong enough not to lose her mind.

'_I see,' _Jean offered in a frantic tone of voice but Harry grabbed her.

'_Just calm down Jean, my love, it's going to be okay,' _Harry offered as he used his X-Ray Vision, there were more Phantoms crowding around the cave with the exit portal.

The good news was that they might be able to get there.

"Any progress?" Coulson asked, despite everything that he saw here being completely and utterly horrifying, he'd seen much worse back on earth. After all he'd accidentally walked in on Fury and his wife having sex once.

"Yes, a slight amount," Harry admitted as he scanned the edge of the cave to try and scope out his surroundings. He bounced off the walls to avoid an attack from a Phantom.

Then something happened.

Something that was utterly surprising and completely baffling at the same time, no matter how many times Harry ran it over in his head, he couldn't wrap his head around what was happening in front of him.

One of the Phantoms began to attack the other Phantoms. Whoever the Phantom was, he had more guts than brains.

Kara and Harry smiled as they had been bought some time.

"I don't know why they're having a squabble," Mockingbird offered but Coulson shook his head.

"It doesn't matter, it's bought us some time, time that we didn't have before," Coulson stated as the entire party slipped into the cave.

Once everyone was inside Hawkeye fired three arrows into the cave wall near the entrance, there was a slight whine then the explosive charge in the arrows went off causing the entrance to cave in behind them.

"That won't hold the Phantoms for long," Kara offered fretfully but Gwen's full focus was on Harry, she sensed that he had a handle on the situation.

"We don't need long, we only need a minute," Gwen stated to them and Harry was on it immediately, slipping over towards the portal.

He slammed his hands on the wall, gripping onto it as he instinctively knew that he could open the portal. He had no idea how much time passed on the other side though.

A dreadful thought passed his mind, that it could have been ten, twenty, or even a hundred years since they left after they had been sucked into the Phantom Zone.

"They're busting through," Clint said as he reloaded his bow.

"I know, I know," Natasha offered and Harry managed to activate the runes on the stone, it was amazing how similar they were to what was taught in Ancient Runes at Hogwarts back in the magical world.

"EVERYONE THROUGH!" Kara yelled as she could see the Phantoms had dug their way through the rubble. She wondered what happened to their rogue Phantom.

Harry could have sworn that he heard a strangled and somewhat familiar voice yelling at him to get through the portal as they were about to be overwhelmed by the Phantoms.

"We got to go, get out of here, now!" Harry ordered them and Laura jumped up, cutting into the roof of the caves and forcing herself to move forwards. After a moment the roof began to crumble downwards in a shower of stone behind them.

"Good, time's been bought, but how much?"

"Just enough," Kara stated as she bit down on her lip and she X-Rayed the area around them.

Gwen would have been amazed by the technology under normal circumstances, if she wasn't scared out of her damn mind. The blonde started to rock nervously back and forth. Her stomach was tied into a tight knot and she closed her eyes in order to take several deep breaths.

The portal finally opened with a thunderous boom. Harry managed to get most of the civilians through to the other side of the portal although some had already been consumed by the time that he arrived on the scene. Once the rest of the group had slipped through he followed behind them.

Exactly where and when they would arrive, well that was an unknown factor for now.

* * *

In his deluded mind, Zod allowed himself to bask in his moment of triumph. All of the headway that they received were by luck and mere chance, elements that foiled all but the well placed of plans. The General stood outside of New York, surely there was some token resistance from the heroes but it was nothing more than that, a token. He walked over and saw Nick Fury standing on the other side of a cage.

"What's the matter, a bit winded there, Zod?" Fury asked but Zod ignored that statement.

"So are you ready to revel in the moment before the end?" Zod asked Fury.

"You know, you've made the mistake that many humans have before and I would have thought more from a supposed superior person," Fury spat back at him.

Zod watched Fury, like he was an amusement but said nothing.

"So, your master plan is…."

"It's not something that your baboon brain could comprehend," Zod offered harshly as Fury looked back at him.

"You'd be surprised what I'm capable of comprehending," Fury stated as he stared down Zod but the General was unblinking.

"We'll see," Zod offered as he waited. "Your Avengers aren't doing as well as you thought they might."

Fury was not going to allow himself to be rattled, he had stared in the eye of many horrifying things and lived to tell the tale. He did things that would make many grown men shit their pants, after all, he was married. He might have been forced to kneel before Zod but he did not do so willingly.

"Are you too proud to beg for humanity?" Zod asked as he stood on the other side of the bars.

It was a situation that Fury had been in many times, although he had been the man on the other side, ready to rattle.

"I managed to put Har-Rell into the Phantom Zone easily, even though he stopped my initial plan," Zod told him as he contorted Osborn's face into a grimace. "But you humans have a saying, and that is, when a door closes, a window opens, if I'm not mistake, that's how the saying goes."

"Perhaps," Fury stated neutrally but he did not say anything further. He kept his eye locked firmly upon Zod and the two stubborn forces went face to face with each other. "But I'm about to shut the window on you."

"Your hostility is rather amusing," Zod commented as he reached through the cell.

"So, are you going to sit there and talk or are you going to actually back up your big mouth?"

Zod turned around to see Wasp, Iron Man, Captain America, Ms. Marvel, and the Hulk standing ready to face him.

"You talk way too much," Hulk grunted, back and angrier than ever. And Zod would not like him when he was angry.

"Brutish creature, you will kneel…."

Hulk rushed forward once again but Zod's speed was about ready to match the Hulk's strength. It was a titanic struggle between the two of them.

Zod slipped behind shot heat vision into the back of the Hulk. Hulk spun around with a howl and grabbed Zod around the head with a melon crusher, trying to squeeze his head with rage flowing through his eyes.

Iron Man actually smiled, if he got the Hulk mad enough, he could crush Zod. The only problem was that Osborn was still in that body.

"HULK…."

"ENOUGH!"

Zod flung Hulk into the air once again, this time making sure he reached the Moon. He knew that the creature would return but this time he was ready for him.

Captain America dove down from above and got Zod into position for the next attack.

"Heads up!" Iron Man yelled as he blasted Zod with a series of missile launches. Zod hit two with his ice breath but he got hit with another one.

"Flying tin can," Zod grimaced as he went for Iron Man but Iron Man managed to dodge his attack, causing him to be frustrated and staggered.

The Wrecking Crew rushed over. It was odd for the Masters of Evil and the Avengers to work together, but all of sense of tradition was thrown out of the window.

Piledriver was piledrived by Zod into the ground. His skull cracking hard off the pavement. The rest of the Wrecking Crew was taken out like they were insects.

Faora looked up from where she was still fighting Karen halfway across the city. She'd received a signal from The General to return to his side but right now she had far bigger problems to deal with.

Namely it was Karen's driving her elbow into her stomach, the blonde followed it up by flinging her to the ground by the hair. The dark haired Kryptonian family rose to her feet and nailed the busty blond with a knee strike to chin.

Their clothes were ripped and both of them were dripping with mud. It was a less of an actual fight and more of a super powered cat fight.

Karen saw a figure in the shadows and her own portable computer got the signal indicating what was put on line. She could see that the Kryptonian weapons were being jammed, even if it was at the cost of the other technology in the area. The drones fell to the ground, smashing into pieces.

'_Thank you Helena, you've bought us some time,' _Karen thought as she pushed Faora back and smacked her fist into the face of the dark haired woman.

Emma was still hidden with Selene in the shadows. She was using her powers to actively hide their presence from the Kryptonian's and had slipped a suggestion into their minds. It had been fairly difficult to break through their mental defenses having taken every amount of cunning she had.

'_I'd sooner kill them for attempting to burn down the church,' _Selene thought harshly. Even though it was an illusion and not the real deal, she had it moved when she learned of Zod's arrival, it was the point of the matter and the principle of it. The woman seethed with anger as she threw her head back, gritting her teeth in rage.

Emma figured that she needed to be the logical, cooler head in this moment. _'One thing at a time, one thing at a time, we need to shut down the device before we all end up taking a permanent residence in the Phantom Zone.'_

Selene nodded, she had taken a side trip into the Phantom Zone once before in the distant past, due to an enemy who attacked her and a malfunctioning spell. She did not want to go in there again.

She felt for her beloved due to the fact he'd been sent there. She saw took in the fight raging around her, between heroes and villains alike, not that it mattered to her. The battle between those two sides was an amusement at best, she supposed that many people needed a hobby. Right now all she cared about was seeing her love return to her safely and crushing Zod's throat under her stiletto's.

Amara and Rachel turned up and they were not alone.

"I tried to get into the Fortress, but it's been locked down by the Council for security purposes," Rachel told them.

She couldn't even get into the Arctic due to a force shield blocking her progress, the only reason it probably didn't blast the hell out of her was due to the fact she was one of Har-Rell's bonded. She supposed that it was better safe than sorry although it was no less frustrating. The woman closed her eyes.

.

"Don't look now, but here comes Zod," Amara offered to Selene.

Selene's smile crossed her face, she was looking to have words with the arrogant prick before she castrated then sucked the life out of him.

Faora and Karen stopped their fight as a thunderous BOOM echoed outwards causing any glass nearby the point of origin to shatter rather spectacularly.

A purple energy Vortex opened above New York City and several people flew out of the portal.

One of them was a dark haired blur who flew out of the portal and drove Zod into the ground with a huge punch to the face. His clothes were torn, his face scratched, but he was still breathing and still fighting. He held his head up as determination burned in his eyes.

Faora stopped in her tracks as she caught sight of him. Her eyes locked onto him and she kept them there, slowly running her eyes up and down on his body taking in every inch of the magnificent specimen before her as she fucked him with her eyes.

"Take out the relay points!" Harry yelled to them and his team nodded. "Zod's mine."

Zod was angered that he was humiliated in front of his troops and more importantly, his daughter. He did not want any man to be seen as superior to him in front of her.

'_Well, you're losing control,' _Osborn offered smugly. _'If you allowed me to take control, we would have won.'_

Zod ignored Osborn once more as he sent heat vision at Har-Rell who responded in kind.

Both heat vision beams connected with each other as there was a loud explosion, with Zod staggering back a step but he did not let it phase him.

The fight was just beginning.

**To Be Continued In the Next Chapter. **


	2. Chapter 2: World Under Siege Part Two

**Chapter Two "World Under Siege Part Two."**

Zod and Harry stood face to face, so close their noses were almost touching. Both of them were ready to bring the fight to the other.

It was now or never for both of them. Both were calculating, intelligent, and Zod kept his eyes on Harry, not backing off for a second.

"You think that you can stop me?" Zod asked him and Harry locked his eyes onto the General's. After the first blast of heat vision, both of them were knocked back. "You think you can stand up to me?"

"There's no thinking about it," Harry offered him with a slight smirk on his face as he kept his gaze locked firmly onto his adversary as his eyes glowed brighter than the city lights. Heat vision was tempted, teased. His vibrant Emerald Eyes teased burning through him.

Whatever Brainiac and Jax-Ur did to Osborn's body granted Dru-Zod all of the powers that Har-Rell had, but Harry was guessing that it also granted him all of the weaknesses.

'_Lana, are you there?' _Harry thought directly to her over the bond link.

'_Harry….oh god, I don't know what's happening, wait….I thought…?'_

'_Never mind that right now, get Project Nine online at RAO HQ, I think we need something to tip the scales,' _Harry thought as he blocked Zod's fist when he tried to cheap shot him.

'_Project Nine, that's….that's….'_

'_I know what it is Lana, get it online. Preferably right now,' _Harry ordered her gently as he grabbed Zod's hand and then drilled him with a huge knee strike to the face.

It was a good thing that the person Zod was possessing, was someone that he didn't particularly like in the first place. Therefore, it was easy for him not to hold back. His elbows rocketed against the crazed dictator's head. A loud crunch resounded at the point where the elbow connected. Zod launched himself out of the way of another spinning elbow strike.

Harry saw the point of his elbow coming down but the wizard dodged out of the way. His heart thumped across his chest and Harry kept moving around, from the left, to the right, and everywhere in between to try and frustrate Zod into making a careless mistake.

Harry and Zod looked like two rapidly moving blurs to those watching them fight on the ground below. Though only the trained fighters where able to track their movements. An average person wouldn't even be able to make the out the fight between them at all.

Zod rushed towards Harry with his fist extended, only for Harry grab him by the throat and then drag him up the closest building at super speed.

With a grunt of exertion the General used the control had over Osborn's body to twist suddenly and drill him Har-Rell with a huge punch to the chest. There was a loud bang as the blow connected sending Harry flying to the ground at an angle which caused him to bounce, skipping along it like a stone thrown across a lake.

Coming to a halt, Harry pushed himself up onto his hands and knees then used his super breath to blow dust on the ground at Zod's feet up into the air in an attempted to blind him.

Using the time this distraction offered him, he slipped on a pair of brass knuckles. Thanks to the Goblin formula Osborn's body was immune to magical attacks. This just meant that Harry needed to be creative with how he applied it. Place his hand behind his back to hide the knuckles from view he waited for Zod to close in on him.

CRACK!

Harry reared back towards the heavens drove his fist into Zod's face with the Power of the Punch. Time seemed to stand still for a second then a booming crack echoed outwards. The ruthless General was sent flying off into the distance crashing through several buildings in the process due to the kinetic power of the magical enhanced punch that the younger Kryptonian male had hit him with. Taking a moment to catch his breath, Harry couldn't help but notice the other heroes rushing around dealing with the various fires that were occurring around them.

One of the Kryptonian honor guard members tried to go for him but Kara rushed into the battle with her arm extended. The punch ricocheting off of the back of his head as it connected with it.

A punch ricocheted off of the back of his head.

Another soldier grabbed Kara from behind but the blonde slipped out by gripping him around the wrist and then twisting suddenly so his arm was over her shoulder she flung him into a billboard, making use the judo throw that Harry taught her during their training sessions.

The blonde then pursed her lips and used her ice breath to freeze a couple of the guards in place.

'_Wanda, blast them,' _Harry thought to the young woman on the ground.

Wanda raised her hands, a smile crossing over her face. Her hair flowed from one side or the other. The members of the Kryptonian honor guard fired away at her using their weapons but she blasted them with her hex bolts which caused them to go flying into each other. Their skulls crunched together with a horrific impact that echoed through the air.

The fact that they were worn down from the efforts of the various heroes made things a lot easier for them. Harry though that he might owe several people drinks. All of a sudden to had to dive to the side as the returning Zod attempted to cave his head in.

The dictator went for another punch which Harry ducked underneath then speared him through the RAO Corporation main windows.

The windows repaired themselves as Harry and Zod crashed onto the ground.

"_What are you trying to accomplish?" Zod asked him with narrowed eyes that were filled with fury due to the fact Jor-El's weak son was showing him so much resistance._

Harry did not say anything, he was luring Zod, he hoped that this worked because if this did not work, it was back to the drawing board.

'_Come on, closer, closer, almost there,' _Harry stated mentally. The moment of truth was at hand.

It was do or die now as he continued to lure Zod into a trap.

Osborn remained silent, he had no investment in whether Zod or not succeeded. In fact, if Zod failed, there was a chance that he would regain control of his body and all of the power that came with it. He would gain his revenge on Jax-Ur and Brainiac once this was all said and done.

His fist was introduced to Zod's face and the introduction was not pleasant.

A punch from Harry Potter was more brutal than about ten from most people. As Zod staggered backwards due to the force, he grabbed him by the hair then twisting threw him into the nearby lab. The man flew head over heels as he was sent flying through the doorway of the chamber.

Red solar radiation bombarded the room as Harry and Osborn went face to face with each other and then Kryptonite Radiation bombarded both of them.

Zod desperately tried to escape from the room and Harry drove him down to ground, pinning him down in to prevent him from escaping.

"You can't….you can't," Zod managed but he knew that his powers did not define him.

Zod grabbed a knife and tried to stab him but Harry blocked it and slammed him into the wall.

"Try and secure…."

Zod swept his legs out from underneath him and tried to focus his eyes but it burned to even do so. He felt weaker by each passing moment and Harry grabbed him around the shoulder.

There was a huge thumping on the outside on the outside of the chamber.

'_Harry, they've followed you there,' _Jean warned him through the bond link. Grabbing Zod by the head Harry proceeded to smash it against the wall several times in a row. In he hope of either knocking him unconscious, driving him out of Osborn's heard, or stun him, giving him enough time to catch his breath.

'_Thanks for the warning Jean, I really appreciate it,' _Harry commented as he prepared to fight another group of the Kryptonian's.

'_I think I've found one of the relay points for the Phantom Zone portal,' _Kitty thought to them.

'_Great, that's good,' _Harry thought as he saw the walls crack open. He saw the lamps flicker for a second then shatter.

Granted, he did not have that much time to enhance Project Nine because there was a lack of disposable Kryptonians to test it on. So the fact that there were some flaws was not too great of a surprise.

"Take him down," Zod breathed as blood poured from his mouth as he struggled to hold his head up into the air in order to keep a steady gaze on the enemy in front of him.

Zod's honor guard moved in charging Harry one at a time. He dodged the first attack attack by stepping to side and plowed his fist into the back of his enemy's head. He launched himself forwards off the ground in order to nail another member of the honor guard with a huge punch to the stomach, which drove him up into into the ceiling which he slammed off of with a sickening crunch.

Eight super powered Kryptonians on one, it was not going to end well. Even though Harry managed to trip them up with his spell work then shatter the thigh bone of one of them.

These Kryptonians appeared to have been genetically engineered to be resistant to many attacks and Harry grabbed another by the shoulder then sent him through the closest wall.

A sonic boom announced Kara's arrival. The Blonde Kryptonian burst into the room like a bat out of hell and knocked her enemy in the face with a huge and vicious roundhouse kick.

She arrived to take down two of the honor guard and smiled.

"How many of these were there?' Kara asked him as she felt the sweat roll down her.

The blonde's efforts intensified, the red solar radiation did cause her some minor discomfort but much to her relief, she was able to fight back. This just showed how well Harry trained her.

These enemies were trained in fighting disciplines that were unique to Krypton and while Kara had studied them a bit but she was out of her league against a group of trained military officers. They surrounded her, the blonde was fighting them off the best that she could but they quickly overwhelmed her.

The blonde was pushed down to her knees from behind as she struggled to break out of the grip. The feisty blonde were pushed down onto her knees. She tried to break out of the grip but once again, she was forced down.

Har-Rell looked on warily as more poured in from the ceiling.

'_Don't worry about me, relay points, I can handle this one,' _Harry thought about he was backed off as about fifteen of them poured in.

The young man grabbed the closest soldier around the head and spiked him headfirst into the ground.

"The time for games is over," Zod said as he glared with fury at his enemy. The mortal shell he possessed felt a slight stabbing pain but he managed through sheer force of will to fight through the radiation. His men dropped down onto the ground and screamed in agony. He pushed himself free. "You will wish you stayed inside the Phantom Zone."

Kara went low, and hurled one of them soldiers into the wall, breaking several bones in his body. It would not kill him but it would make him miserable.

Faora turned up, having changed in a black top and jeans that she'd borrowed from a civilian after her battle armor was ruined.

"Faora, excellent, you're here, just in time to see my moment of triumph," Zod said to his daughter.

"I'm not sure how triumphant it will be when you needed a numbers game to defeat me," Harry said as he continued to fight the ever growing number of Zod's army.

"Yeah, he's a coward, he's was always a coward," Kara offered to them as a trickle of blood poured from her mouth.

"You will stifle your insolence," Zod told the blonde. "You're much like your mother."

"Thanks," Kara commented in a scathing voice.

"Eliminate the daughter of Alura first, then the son of Jor-El shall kneel before Zod," Zod offered as he felt a tingle of excitement at having Har-Rell on his knees before him.

Harry noted his excitement and was rather disturbed by it.

"You know, the fact that you want other men kneel before you, that's kind of unsettling," Harry said and Zod looked at him. "Sure you don't want to….come out of the closet a bit and talk about that. You know, be honest with your feelings."

"With all due respect General. Perhaps it would not be wise to eliminate them so hastily," Faora offered her father and Zod turned to face her.

"Careful Faora, you're treading a dangerous line," Zod warned her.

Faora inclined her head with a strong nod and she stared firmly into his eyes. She swallowed the lump in her throat and managed to continue.

"Well…I assumed that….given…."

"Spit it out child," Zod ordered as he made his way towards the dark haired woman. "You have been bred for greatness, it would reflect badly upon me if you ruined that now."

Faora's eyes flashed with a brief hint of annoyance that only Harry noticed or maybe Kara did as well. It was hard to tell in circumstances like this.

"Are you…."

"I think that given that they are Kryptonian…."

"You have been poisoned by their lies," Zod stated in a fierce voice filled with insanity, cutting off Faora and not giving her a chance to continue.

Faora kept her eyes fixed on him and she shook her head frantically.

"No it's just…."

"Strength is proven through the will to use it and it's time to prove how strong you are."

Zod said these words as his hand wrapped around Faora's throat and squeezed it roughly. The woman tried to break free but she dropped down to her knees as her ability to breath was cut off.

The combination of Zod's insane mind and Osborn's demented psyche had made the combined entity quite mad indeed.

Faora struggled frantically in an attempt to break the hold her own Father had on her throat, she was starting to see spots as the breath was driving completely from her lungs.

Harry burst out of the crowd of Kryptonians and nailed Zod in the face with a huge punch.

In a daze Faora dropped forward onto her hands hacking and coughing as she tried to desperately get air back into her lungs. The results of her Father chocking her had left nail marks on the side of her throat and blood dripping from her nose.

"Get her to a safe place!" Harry yelled to Kara who nodded. She used her heat vision to break the ground underneath her feet causing the Kryptonians around her to stagger. They did not have the filtering spells that her and Harry did so they were still being bombarded with red sunlight from the lamps that had been broken when they'd force their way into the room.

She scooped up Faora in her arms. The dark haired girl froze for a second as Kara blasted her off.

"She'll die with the rest of you," Zod offered as blood poured from Osborn's nose and he sped off.

Harry was not that far behind Zod.

* * *

The members of the team who weren't Kryptonian had an equally crucial task to do. Which was getting to the relay points and making sure that Zod's army did not activate the Phantom Zone portal again.

Gwen paused as she moved with Kitty and Jean.

"What is it?" Kitty asked to Gwen in confusion.

"Brainiac, he's nearby," Gwen offered Kitty in a voice that indicated that she sensed that this would cause issues.

Kitty frowned and she offered one statement. "I don't…."

"I know you don't see him but I sense him, he's a living computer, so I know that he's…."

A pulse of energy went off. Gwen ducked, Kitty went off to the side, and Jean put up a shield. The form of Brainiac approached them, still in the form of Milton Fine.

"I don't know how you escaped from the Phantom Zone…."

Laura lunged at him from behind plunging her claws into Brainiac's back.

"You don't need to know," Laura snarled out as she twisted her claws in the wound then drove them upwards towards his shoulders before flinging him smoking and sparking off to the side.

Jean used a telekinetic shield to block him from escaping or at least she tried to. That was an effort that was easier said than done. There was a crack as Brainiac tried to break through the shield. Jean was forced back as she felt her knees slowly buckling underneath her.

'_Hang on, Jean, I'll get….'_

The brief flicker of Harry's voice gave Jean hope but it also caused her to become uneasy. Harry normally took care of problems so easily but as she reminded herself, he must have met his match.

"Kryptonians at ten o' clock!" Rachel yelled as she joined the group, along with Amara.

"We so don't have time for this," Kitty stated as she picked up one of the weapons that was left on the ground, she had no idea how much it would work but it was better she tried it now, than trying nothing.

"I know we don't, but what choice do we have?" Gwen asked as she tried to fix onto the relay point but Brainiac was finally able to burst out of the shield confining him. His hand snatched Gwen around her throat, choking the life out of her.

Jean nailed him from behind with another attack but one of the Kryptonians jumped down in front of her. He tried to stab her with a knife but she forced it back then slammed him through the closest wall.

The redhead propelled the next enemy to attack her up into the air then sent him crashing about six feet into the ground. The cracking of bones was not fully heard by Jean as she circled her adversaries.

'_Okay, focus, and go,' _Jean thought to herself.

Gwen managed to find one of the crystal arrays. She tried to use her knowledge of Kryptonian technology, even if it was rudimentary compared to Kara and Harry's, to counteract what Zod was doing.

She held the chunk of Kryptonite, which somewhat worked.

"You might want to try the bottom pattern, there's a knob down there that you can use."

Karen showed up, she was still in wet, ripped, and tattered clothes that clung to her body rather enticingly.

"...Right," Gwen stated as she tried not to stare at Karen's rather magnificent, heaving and soaking wet breasts. She closed her eyes for a moment so she could focus. "I've got something."

'_Providing that I don't fry the entire city.'_

Rogue slammed one of the Kryptonians face first onto the asphalt. With her super strength the impact knocked him down.

"I really wish that we could just send them back," Rogue said as there was a never ending stream of attackers. Zod's followers who escaped the explosion of the planet were more than they thought that there were.

"Actually, give me about two minutes and nineteen seconds, and I might be able to," Gwen said as she manipulated the console rapidly, modifying the relay points to work in the inverse, as well as adding a couple of exceptions.

Kitty frowned as she went intangible causing two of the Kryptonians to fly head on into each other as she avoided their attacks. "That….that seems like an oddly specific ETA."

"That's because it is," Gwen said absent mindedly.

She thought she could do it, because she believed that she could do it. She needed to become the technology.

Brainiac sensed what she was doing and being the techno bane that he was, he tried to interfere.

Karen rushed forward and dodged the tentacle attack that was launched at her. Heat vision reduced the chances that Brainiac would be able to do it again as she sliced the tentacle in half.

"I don't think that you can stop us!" Karen yelled as she lifted up the machine and flung it high into the air. It tried to probe her but Karen was not going to go for that one.

Gwen felt like she was shoved into the pressure cooker but this was where she excelled. She was not afraid of pressure, on the contrary, pressure was something that she thrived on. Time seemed to speed up and slow down simultaneously if that made any sense.

'_Okay, just about….a little more….a little more…come on…a bit more….and I got this,' _Gwen thought in exasperation.

Her heart sped up as time seemed to stop.

For a brief second, she thought she screwed up and the portal would collapse upon itself, but then she saw that a few of the Kryptonian honor guard members vanished with a huge crack.

Gwen had modified the device so that it would transport anyone who was not a female Kryptonian or Harry away. They were the ones getting sent to the Phantom Zone as opposed to every human.

The disappearance of them all figured that what she did worked.

Captain America looked up into the sky as the invaders seemed to vanish around. Baron Zemo, seeing the threat was gone and that the first avenger seemed to be distracted, tried to go in for the kill.

A jumping uppercut with his shield knocked Zemo unconscious and he collapsed bonelessly to the ground.

"Did you think it was that easy?" Captain America asked.

Gwen barely paid attention to it, she felt a faint buzzing in her ear.

"Brainiac slipped off," Karen said, he had vanished in the chaos despite her best efforts.

'_No helping it now. We'll just have to deal with him later,' _Harry thought to her. _'It appears that your plan worked for the most part, Gwen.'_

Gwen frowned and she offered one question. _'What do you mean for the most part?'_

'_I mean that since Zod is possessing Osborn, he didn't get transported with the rest of his men,' _Harry thought to her but he offered an encouraging smile._ 'Don't worry about that because I have a plan.'_

'_Don't you usually have like fifty of them going at once? Or should I be worried since you felt the need to point this one out?' _Gwen commented lightly and there was a momentary pause as Harry pondered her question.

'_If it doesn't work but I know it will,' _Harry said and he knew that Zod would find the "Fortress."

Jax-Ur and Brainiac would follow him and Harry would be able to take out three birds with one stone.

'_Kara, Karen, meet me there, your special talents are required. The rest of you help the Avengers to make sure there are no civilians are trapped in the debris,' _Harry suggested and everyone nodded, their jobs understood.

* * *

Once Zod sensed the Arctic location of Jor-El's Fortress, he knew that he had to make it his. He knew that he had to place it within the palm of his hands.

It's contained technology that was the pinnacle of Krypton glory and that technology should be under the sole control of the one true savior of that now dead planet. The sadistic General made his way towards the Fortress greed dancing through his eyes.

The power would be his.

Norman Osborn remained silent as Zod kept making his way forward. There was no need to say anything because it was obvious that Zod was being lured into a trap.

That was something that Osborn relished because it served the ass right for stealing his body.

Zod unable to imagine himself as being anything short of perfection was unable to admit to himself that he might be walking into a trap of any kind.

"We have a problem."

Jax-Ur turned up at that moment, to find the General standing there staring off into the distance.

"What is it?" Zod asked in a calm voice, although he did not really respect the scientist. He did not toil as Zod had, therefore, he was not someone who he respected, not in the slightest.

"Speaking respectfully, General….he's…."

"Do not stifle your words, use them, spit them out of your mouth," Zod whispered a harsh tone to his voice full of biting critism and the man staggered back a step.

""Of course, the son of Jor-El has sent the rest of your army into the Phantom Zone…"

"If they were too foolish to stop them, then they are no use to Zod," Zod told him.

'_And you talk in the third person, you know, people calling me insane now seems insane given that you are nuts,' _Osborn commented.

'_Silence or I will kill you,' _Zod thought to Osborn.

'_You know, you can't because this is my body, dumbass,' _Osborn replied in a smug tone as Zod arrived outside the Fortress, greed dancing in his eyes.

Or rather what he thought was the Fortress, the real deal was obviously elsewhere. Despite the fact that he could be blundering into a trap, Zod's glowing eyes were fixed on the prize ahead. He would rule this planet with an iron grip, the twenty eight galaxies would come to him and kneel before Zod. They would all kneel.

The doors allowed him inside and he took a couple of steps forward.

There was a loud crash outside and Zod's eyes turned towards the source of the noise.

"Have you been a naughty little boy? I think you have, trespassing."

A large man stepped forward. He had a bright red outfit, alongside twinkling blue eyes. He had rosy red cheeks, hair white as snow, and a large belly that shook like a like a bowl full of jelly. He marched forward and there was a second where Zod looked at him and one statement escaped his lips.

"Who the devil is that?"

'_I believe that's Santa Claus,' _Osborn thought in deadpan.

And it was Santa Claus alright, who packed a laser gun along with laser blasts from his eyes, along with a group of elves who had large candy canes that shot lasers.

Zod felt the sting of the lasers but decided that it was time to end these games. He raised one of his hands up into the air and with a huge crunch, drove his hand down onto the closest elf.

The elf blew into microscopic dust particles.

The jolly fat man proved to be no better as Zod put his arm through his large torso and ripped him to shreds.

General Zod had just destroyed Santa Claus, standing over his battered remains.

'_You are a dick,' _Osborn stated in a gleeful tone as if he thought that was a good thing.

The Christmas Lights appeared in the Fortress and Zod looked towards the display. It shifted into one statement.

**You've Made My Naughty List. But Things Are Looking Up.**

Zod looked up to the ceiling and it was then Harry came crashing up from the floor underneath him to nail Zod with an uppercut punch to his danglies. The General grimaced, as did Osborn because they both felt that one.

There was a large crack as Harry pushed Zod back against the wall and the thunderous crunch resounded for all of them to see. Harry's smile widened as he pressed forward.

"That's it, this is the end, Har-Rell," Zod said as he tried to attack him, hand out stretched and Harry copied his movements.

Both fists connected with each other and both struggled, jockeying for positioning. Neither could back the other off as they tried to punch each other again a second time but nothing worked. A third time and more of the same as they tried to go for a different strategy.

Har-Rell then used his heat vision to loosen a few of the icicles above to impale Zod but Zod craftily got out of the way. He was on the other end of the faux Fortress as the icicle's landed on the ground where they might have impaled him.

Jax-Ur turned up from behind but Kara punched him in the back of the head. He was a scientist and not equipped to fight, so Kara took him down in two more moves, a huge punch and a roundhouse kick. The blonde stomped the back of his head for good measure.

Zod and Harry circled each other in the Fortress, both waiting for the other to make that first move. The chess game was on.

Zod flew towards Harry hands outstretched and prepared to strangle. Harry dodged the attack.

Knee drove to the back of Zod's head but Osborn's hand backhanded and nailed Harry in the face. Harry dodged another spinning back fist. Moving Zod into position, he caused the ice of the Fortress to rise up and wrap around Osborn's body.

His eyes glowed to light with heat vision and he busted out. He then went to bust Harry but he ducked the swing and then cartwheeled off to the other side.

"Come on, let's go!" Harry yelled as he egged Zod on and the General took the bait.

Zod's anger was growing by the moment; he could not put his enemy down, no matter how hard he attempted to do so.

"Face it Zod, you lost from the moment that you entered that body," Harry told Zod. "I had to lure you here so I could use this."

"Use what?"

'_It's a trap!" _Osborn yelled even though it was too late to do any good and Zod felt the pulse of energy erupt through his body from underneath the Fortress.

It was a way to negate the Goblin formula and reduce the magic immunity, although the Fortress and its false counterpart was the only place on Earth that Harry could safely launch it from at this present point in time.

A magically enhanced punch to the jaw ricocheted off of Zod's face staggering him backwards. Harry slid a crystal out of the wall and into his hand.

"I hope you enjoyed your tour of the Earth, because you're getting sent back home," Harry said as he rushed at Osborn's body, clutching the crystal in his hand.

"No, I won't go back!" Zod bellowed but Harry plunged the crystal into his torso and it began to heat up.

Jax-Ur was launched through the portal as well; sent back to the Phantom Zone along with Zod.

Osborn dropped to the ground, his body going into shock from this experience, as his nervous system felt like it was on fire.

Harry felt like he was going to collapse, but that would have to come later on, he still had too much to do. The fight had not been easy, although he did it, somehow, someway, he did it.

"There was a vessel leaving the Earth, it appears that Brainiac has left the premises," Lara commented to him.

Harry sighed. He'd escaped for now but if he was still out there, he would be back eventually.

* * *

"You do realize that this is not a matter that we can sweep underneath the rug easily."

Harry said this statement in a matter of fact manner.

"Maybe not," Fury agreed in a grudging voice as he stood eye to eye with Harry. "But we can do our best to control what information is released to the general public."

Harry had to grudgingly agree with this. After all, a lot of people would be afraid of alien invasions. Despite the best efforts of the Avengers and other heroes to protect them, there were a lot of people who were already up in arms because of the "mutant menace." Alien invaders would probably just send them into a feeding frenzy.

It was a curse that could only be reversed with time and effort. Harry hoped to educate people through the newly created Friends of Humanity group.

"One step at a time. Try to show people the good in those that are different and that there are two sides to every story " Harry offered and Fury cracked a smile as he turned around and took a call.

"What is it…oh yes, yes….I'll be right there….yes I'll be sure to pick up bread," Fury commented as he wandered off.

"Mrs. Fury I take it?" Harry whispered to Carol who turned up to join him.

"Yeah, she's quite tenacious, about the only person Fury backs down from," Carol offered to him but her curiosity was beginning to get the better of her.

"Well…"

Harry thought that he was going to stop Carol from beating around the bush and just make her come out and say it, at least that's what was going on in his mind. True to form, the blonde heroine did open her mouth and say it as Harry suspected that she might.

"What's it like in that place?"

Harry raised an eyebrow and Carol decided to tell Harry what she meant.

"You know in the Phantom Zone."

Harry offered her a smile as Natasha joined them. "Well, let's put it this way, I wouldn't recommend it as your holiday destination for your next trip."

It did bug Harry that they were not able to save everyone although there were a lot of people who despite orders otherwise did not stay calm. One of them tried to be a hero even though they were not quite cut out for the job at hand, at least that's what Harry witnessed. He could not babysit every person in the world, some times things were going to happen that were out of his control despite his best efforts.

"I think you understate things a bit too much."

This statement came from Natasha although she was smiling when she said it.

"Just a bit?" Harry asked her.

Natasha's smile got more prominent and wider. "Yes, just a bit."

"Well we were all lucky to get out of there in one piece," Jean offered and Wanda would have to agree, as the two of them joined them alongside Kitty, Rogue, and Kara.

"Is our guest…"

"Yeah she is," Kara breathed out to Harry in Kryptonian because they did not want Fury to find out that they were harboring one of the invaders. As far as he knew, Faora was sent off into the Phantom Zone with the rest of them.

He could imagine the fit that Fury was bound to throw when he found that Harry was harboring Zod's daughter. Not that he particularly fucking cared what Fury did. She was an asset, and more importantly an attractive female one, so only an idiot would throw that away.

"So what are we going to do now?"

It was Kara that posed that question and obviously she would defer to Harry at all times because he was the one who taught her all that she knew regarding this strange world. And as Harry freely admitted, having lived on Earth all of his life, there were many things that he even he lacked the basic understanding of.

Harry pondered that notion and then after a second of thought he gave his honest opinion.

"The re-building process begins."

Jean had definitely taking note of the damage done to the city, caused by Zod or Osborn or whoever.

Jean saw some of the homes destroyed, the damage. Zod or Osborn or whoever.

"So what about Brainiac?"

"Gone without a trace," Harry informed Gwen who had turned up to ask this question. "He knew that the plan was a failure, so he cut his losses and got out of harm's way."

"He's a machine, bound by logic, nothing more," Gwen mused to him and Harry would have to agree, that was the BrainInteractive Construct in a nutshell.

"Yes, that's the point isn't it?"

Kitty sighed, most of them were sent back to the Phantom Zone and now there was what they had to do next. Although as Kitty figured that Harry would have something in mind.

He always tended to.

In chaos there was often opportunity and Harry was better than figuring out some opportunities more than anyone else in the world.

* * *

Harry decided to stop by Lois's apartment; she suffered a bad bump during the Goblin's attack, although in typical stubborn Lois fashion, she checked herself out of the hospital the moment that she was able to.

He lightly tapped on the door and Lois got up to meet him.

"Hi, Harry," Lois offered as she threw her arms around him and gave him a long kiss which Harry returned.

Harry stepped inside of her apartment, there were certain things between the two of them that had been left unsaid.

"Don't worry Harry, I'm making sure that Lois tries to take it easy….she did get a concussion after all," Chloe offered as she watched her cousin.

"Hey, I'm fine, Chloe, you should get back to work on the Torch because….well I'm sure that people need to be told that it wasn't the mutants or the Star Child that was behind the invasion," Lois offered though she sat down due to the fact she felt a bit dizzy.

"Wouldn't have hurt you to stay in the hospital until you were completely sure," Chloe offered and Lois rolled her eyes.

"Yes, mother, thanks for the pep talk," Lois said as she rolled her eyes and Chloe shook her head in exasperation. The blonde leaned back, there was really no use telling Lois anything because she was too damn stubborn to listen.

'_You know she knows,' _Chloe thought to Harry.

'_Yes, but does she know that I know that she knows?' _Harry fired back to Chloe. _'I can read minds Chloe, I knew that she knew.'_

Harry would not have taken the step that he had if he did not know what Lois knew. Of course, Harry was not about to admit the fact to her because she already knew and he did not want to insult her intelligence by saying it out loud. And Lois was not going to say anything because she was too stubborn to admit that she had been fooled for the time that she was.

They had been going out for about five or six months anyway, if Harry's math was correct and sometimes it was and sometimes it wasn't but that was beside the point.

"So if you need anything, anything at all, just know that I'm a call away," Harry told Lois and there was a second where she paused to consider this offer.

"You do realize that anything can mean a lot of things?" Lois asked him with a smile on her face. "See you later Harry."

"You two," Harry said to her and he caught a thought.

'_Yeah, don't admit it, I can play this game a lot longer than you can,' _Lois thought in amusement, unaware that Harry could hear that thought. Then again, there was an obvious conclusion that she made but that was beside the point.

The next instant, Harry was back at the Stronghold in the blink of an eye. He decided that it was time to check on his guest in the hospital wing.

He headed towards it and came upon Kitty who was standing outside the door, a smile on her face.

"She's doing good for someone who nearly got strangled to death by her own father," Kitty whispered to Harry and the wizard smiled, as he grabbed her in a tight hug and the two exchanged a passionate kiss.

"We've got a long way to go to clean up the city," Harry offered Kitty and the brunette smiled.

"I figure that you have a good way of doing it to, you're normally good at turning these opportunities around," Kitty commented.

Harry smiled mysteriously at that and kissed her on the forehead. He was preparing to hold a press conference tomorrow afternoon of what RAO intended to do to help the city get back on it's feet. It was going to be a long road but if they all worked together, it would be a successful mission.

With that thought, he slipped inside to check up on Faora.

"So, I believe that I have you to thank."

Faora kept her blue eyes fixed on Harry as he walked towards her. She was wearing a long shirt that extended down to her knees and that was her sole article of clothing.

"So, I have you to thank for my rescue," The Kryptonian offered as she gave Harry an extremely hungry gaze as the the two stared at each other.

"One might say that, yes," Harry told her as he moved towards her.

Faora watched him close in on her. He was a strong man who could do anything that he wanted to her and that thought excited her greatly.

"I'm in your debt," Faora commented to him, this statement give as matter of factly as possible and Harry offered her a smile in return.

"So it seems," Harry offered her and the woman slid off of the side of the bed and moved, to show Harry that she was not wearing anything underneath her shirt.

"And I don't like to leave my debts unpaid," Faora said as she placed her hands upon his waist and stared him down. "I want to see if you are everything that the Church thinks you are."

"Oh, you'll find that I'm all that and more," Harry commented as he grabbed her wrists and pinned her back on the bed. "I hope that you're well because you'll find out soon enough that I collect all debts.

Faora anticipation built and she was about to find out that the anticipation was better than anything.

**Smut/Lemon Begins.**

-PROFILE-

**Smut/Lemon Ends. **

Harry left Faora, Kara, and Karen on the bed completely ravished. He made his way to another chamber.

He saw the stone statue of Mystique standing before him.

He smiled, once he figured out a way to get her out her predicament, there was going to be another female that would be within his debt. Although he found it curious that the Church did not recruit Mystique or maybe they did. He'd have to ask Selene about it at another time.

* * *

"Ensure that Norman gets the proper medication this time and make sure he stays in his cell, I'm not paying you to mess this up, Doctor Sofen," Lionel said into his cell phone as he paced around at the main lobby of OsCorp.

"Trouble, Dad?"

The tone that Lionel's son, Lex, used was rather mocking. Though that was rather normal as of late.

"I didn't expect you to be here this soon," Lionel offered as he stared his son down, only for Lex to offer him a smile in response.

"Well, expectations can be met and exceeded, as you've told me many times," Lex offered him with a smile. "So is Uncle Norman…."

"Uncle Norman is very unwell," Lionel commented as he turned around and knew that Norman was screaming about demonic possessions but he honestly paid this statement no mind at all. Lionel honestly knew better than to take Norman's demented ramblings as anything other than a grain of salt.

"That's a pity," Lex stated to his father casually.

"This is your chance Lex, your chance to make something out of yourself."

Lex nodded, His father had offered him an opportunity. He placed his hands through his hair, he was very proud about his full head of red hair, he did not know what he would do if he became bald. He was not too fond of bald people at all, in fact he considered them freaks, but that was just him.

Another man turned up. He had sandy blonde hair, with thick glasses, and he was wearing an ugly blue suit that was not at all fashionable.

"Mr. Luthor, Mr. Luthor," the man stated.

"Mr. Menken, how nice of you to join us," Lionel commented in a satisfied voice although there was a certain amount of false nicety to his tone as he kept his eyes on the man.

He was Donald Menken, he was Norman Osborn's right hand man, and thus he knew where most of the skeletons of Norman Osborn were buried. Of course, he didn't know everything and Lionel did not expect that he would know everything. Norman was someone who had his secrets and his lies were abundant. Then again, he would not be so successful in business if that wasn't the case.

Lionel watched the situation outside.

"I have the information that you wanted," Menken told him.

Lionel smiled, even if Norman recovered from his latest ordeal, he would not be getting back control of the company any time soon. In fact, he planned to turn OsCorp into something else, because the Osborn name was tainted thanks to Norman and Harry's actions of late and that fact caused him more then a few headaches.

"Thank you, Menken, you have a future with Luthor-Osborn," Lionel offered, as he prepared to restructure OsCorp. Norman being committed to Ravencroft would ensure that he wouldn't be a problem.

"You're quite welcome, Mr. Luthor," Menken said as he turned around and walked off.

Menken made his way into the elevator and went to the bottom level of the Oscorp bottom levels.

He made his way into a car and drove out of the parking deck. He did not say anything; he did not do anything, until he made his way outside the city limits.

Menken got out and pressed a button on his wrist.

"We're in position."

"Excellent, let the infiltration begin."

**To Be Continued. **


	3. Chapter 3: Aftermath

**Chapter Three: Aftermath.**

Even though only a day had passed since the invasion that had rocked New York City and the main battle that followed, the people within the city would feel the fallout from what happened for a very long time. There were rumors of what happened and more importantly rumors of what actually happened were being hushed up, as was the nature with things like that.

Harry turned up with a smile on his face, he would have hated for this to get out too far of control. There was any number of people who didn't have the interests of the people in mind that would take advantage of them in a situation like this. Harry wished to nip that situation in the bud as quickly as he could possibly do so.

Lana greeted him outside of the RAO Corporation headquarters in New York.

"You know, this is the first press conference you've given since the company was founded," Lana said to Harry with a low tone of curiosity to her voice.

"Yes, but I think it's time to face the public in order to give them reassurance that things will turn out alright in the aftermath of what's occurred," Harry whispered to her as he saw the notes that she had. As always, the redhead was going to do her homework. He took the papers from her and then read them over quickly. A smile crossing his face at what he found there. "Good job, Lana, you deserve a raise for the work you've done."

Lana could not resist giving him a beaming smile at those words of praise. "Keep that up, and I'll be paid more than some of the overpaid politicians that are running this country into the ground."

Harry placed his arm around her waist and pulled her in close, making sure that their eyes were locked onto each others. Leaning in close so that their foreheads were nearly touching, he whispered to her in a soft and calm voice. "Unlike them, you'll be worth every single penny of it, plus more."

Lana did not say anything but secretly she was very pleased. Though the bright smile on her face gave her away and it was such that Harry couldn't help but notice it. In fact he couldn't resist commenting on it.

"Careful Lana, keep this up, and I'm going to have to have that surgically removed from your face," Harry whispered to the redhead and she smiled even wider.

"Worth it because you put it there," Lana offered as she looked him over and nodded. "And speaking of things that you'll be putting everywhere…."

Harry grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into a tight hug with a smile. He could sense that she was excited about future meetings after the initial taste that Harry gave her and to be honest, so was he.

"Everything's in order," Jennifer Walters muttered to Harry as she turned up on the stage beside him.

"I'm surprised Creed hasn't tried anything after the legal order that you gave him," Harry offered Jen and the woman shrugged her shoulders.

"Well he hasn't tried anything overt, although there had been a few death threats have been thrown out there," Jen commented with a sigh. It would not be the first time that she got a death threat, nor it would be the last given her line of work.

Harry smiled in spite himself.

"Well, just keep your eyes open even though death threats might be second nature for someone like you."

"Wouldn't be doing my job properly if there weren't. Besides, most aren't that stupid for obvious reasons," Jen said. It had somehow become common knowledge who her cousin was and why it was not a good idea to make him angry. Most people did not like him when he was angry.

Harry decided that since his public and the members of the press present seemed to be reaching a fever pitch, it was time to address everyone. With a smile on his face, Harry took a half of a step forward ready to see who was there and how they reacted to what he had to say.

"Greetings, everyone, and thank you for coming," Harry said to them with a smile on his face and everyone buzzed excitedly as they leaned in closer in order to hear what he had to say better. "For those of you who don't know who I am. Let me introduce myself, my name is Harry Potter. I'm the owner and CEO of the RAO Corporation and I would like to thank you for taking time out of your busy lives to come here today."

There was loud cheering and even louder clapping. Harry waited for the applause to die down before he continued with his speech.

"All of us have been affected by the events that have occurred over the past couple of day. With parts of New York having been crushed and many of you forced from your homes," Harry said to them and everyone nodded, they all knew full well what happened. "However, I'm here to help as part of the RAO Corporation."

There was a loud round of applause and Harry waited calmly for several minutes for the applause to die down.

"We're working our way through the city of New York and we're rebuilding it slowly. We hope to make everything even better than it was before," Harry told him. "Already there are people who are stepping forward and getting back to work, showing how the people in this city and other cities that were affected will not be bullied by any alien invasion threat."

There was a loud round of applause and Harry once again waited for it to die down. Once it did, he continued.

"This city will be rebuilt and everything will be put right once more to serve as a reminder that we cannot be bullied," Harry continued and there was a loud round of applause that resounded all around them. He thought that they were the excitable sort and he turned his head to watch everyone. The smile continued to widen over Harry's face. "I'm setting up shelters all over the country in areas that were affected the most. Given that New York was the center, we did get the brunt of the invasion but we were far from the only people who suffered."

Harry said a lot of things but saying a lot of things was not enough. He was planning on backing up what he said. His eyes swam with determination as he looked towards everyone. The RAO Corporation was becoming stronger with each passing day and Harry couldn't wait for the power of the company to escalate alongside it due to that fact.

The fact that this created more jobs put smiles on people's faces.

Kara watched from the crowd with a smile. The RAO corporation would help rebuild the world. They would improve it, make it better and that was not hyperbole.

'_I'm amazed with all of the work that you've done,' _Jean thought to Harry.

'_Well the world does not wait,' _Harry offered as he smiled as he continued to detail the rebuilding efforts and his plans to make New York better. The fact that he just invested in several insurance companies was no coincidence, it was just smart business. _'It will also help human and mutant relations and educate people.'_

_'Our new Friends of Humanity group does that,' _Kitty offered with a smile as she could not resist saying one thing. _'I'm sure Creed is going to lose his mind because of the fact your using the name he came up with for something that is going to help humans and mutants equally.'_

'_Can't say I'm too broken up about it,' _Harry commented dryly. He knew that he had a lot of business left to finish up today, so he would have to wrap up this press conference soon.

The next stop was the Massachusetts Academy.

* * *

"Everyone was going wild about the invasion but we all knew that you'd save the day," Nico said as she walked side by side with Harry as they entered the Academy and the dark haired girl offered a prominent smile towards her hero. "You always save the day, that's just well…"

She trailed off, with a flushed look on her face as Harry watched her.

"Don't worry, I understand what you mean," Harry offered her as he gently wrapped the dark haired female up in a hug and she relaxed in his grip.

Nico smiled, Harry had his set of fans, although every girl who walked through the doors of this school had been well versed in the greatness of the Star Child.

"You were amazing," Karolina said as she turned up and stepped towards him, with a gushing smile on her face.

Harry smiled at the girl and offered her the next statement. "You're too kind."

"Well it's the truth, you are pretty amazing," Regan said as she stepped out of the hallway. Looking at Harry closely she could help but mentally undress him with her eyes. Monet following her along behind her. "Maybe now that things have died down we might be able to do more cross promotional school things…."

Harry saw the look in her eyes and figured out where she was coming from. He had a smile on his face and it got wider with each moment.

He decided to have a little bit of fun with the situation.

"Who knows?" Harry asked her as he returned her look. "Play your cards right and something amazing could happen."

The female was not going to lie, she found that possibility enticing. He placed his hands on either side of her hips and gently pressed himself against her until she was pushed against the wall.

"Oh, I'm sure….it will be….amazing," the blonde offered as she tried to gain a clearer focus.

Nico, Karolina and Monet watched the situation closely not really able to take their eyes off of him. They wondered what Harry was going to do next. Hopefully it was something hot.

"Well, I have an appointment to keep, but I'm sure that we can meet up later," Harry said as he teased a kiss but pulled back at the last second to leave her hanging.

Karolina put the hand up to her mouth but Regan looked at her.

"What's so funny?"

Monet was the one who chimed in. "The look on your face was hilarious to say the least."

"He's going to leave you choking for it," Nico offered but she would be in denial if she said that she wasn't already choking for it herself. The training sessions he'd been putting her through in regards to the use of her magical abilities tended to be very hands-on. The young female checked the time and realized that if she did not leave soon, she would be late for class.

Miss Frost did not tolerate tardiness, she thought with a shudder and moved down the hallway. The three Black sisters if anything were worse, especially the middle one who came up with some rather creative and disturbing punishments.

Harry made his way down the hallway and saw a young blond waiting for him there.

"Sophie," Harry stated to one of the Cuckoos.

The blonde offered Har-Rell a flirty smile. "Very good, Har-Rell, most cannot tell us apart. But then again, you are better than most, aren't you?"

"Indeed," Harry stated as another identical teenage blonde popped up in the hallway to join them. "Celeste, how are you doing?"

"Much better now that you are here," the blonde commented as she locked her eyes on Harry, and watched him with a grin crossing her face. "I take it you are here to see our mother."

"Yes, where…."

"She's in her office," Sophie commented as she locked arms with Harry. "I'll walk you there."

After reaching the top of the stairs they made their way down a short hallway towards Emma's office. Harry leaned in to knock on the door but an elegant voice with a bit of a posh tone to it rang out through his head before he could do so.

_'The doors open,'_ Emma told him having sensed her Lord through the telepathic bond they shared. Harry, gentleman that he was held the door open for Sophie so she could enter first before following her in. A bright smile blossomed across the face of the White Queen as she took in the sight of her lover, and god. "Ah, Harry, it's nice to see you."

Sophie, her job done, decided to make her leave, but before she could do so, Emma cast her a stern look.

"Sophie, dear, do me a favor, and collect your sisters, I believe we need to have a discussion about something that you girls did months ago," Emma stated sternly.

Sophie thought that Emma forgot about it but no, Emma Frost never forgets. She just delays things to make sure the tension builds up properly.

"So, you're rather popular," Emma stated with a smile. "Recruitment for the church has skyrocketed. Selene has also taken special interest in recruiting several women that she thinks would make for a beneficial addition to our ranks."

"Well, that's interesting," Harry offered as he took the seat and the tea that had been offered.

"Yes, I figure you'd be interested," Emma said as she held up the documents that she neatly prepared. "Also, the Hellfire Club's is booming under it's new management but given that there is a new Black King, the reason as to why should be obvious. I figure that if Jean, Kitty, Wanda, and Rogue are still interesting in learning the ropes, some tutoring with Selene and I can be arranged."

'_I can confirm that we are,' _Jean offered with an excited tone to her voice. She looked forward to the next step of her life. Having converted to the church recently, she obviously wished to serve her god as he continued to remake the Hellfire Club in his own image as its new Black King.

"It had been a long time coming but now since undesirables like Shaw are out of the picture we can expand and improve," Emma stated and Harry smiled. "So, we've got a lot accomplished since you took over all of those months ago."

"Yes, there was a lot of red tape," Harry agreed as he placed his hands on hers.

"So, how is the asset?" Emma asked Harry and there was no need to mention who she was speaking of.

"I broke her in quite nicely, Karen agreed to train her and give her a job at STARR Industries so she could keep an eye on her," Harry told Emma and the blonde smiled.

"I'm sure that she'll fit in quite nicely," Emma agreed, as she kept her eyes locked on his. He couldn't help but notice they burning with desire, he also caught a flash of what she'd like for him to be doing to her at this very moment. "Then again, most females fit under you quite nicely."

"It's a new world," Harry offered as Emma heard the knock that indicated five very naughty girls were reporting to her office.

The quintuplets entered after a brief second and Emma gave them a slight smile.

"Celeste, Sophie, Esme, Mindee, Phoebe, welcome," Emma told them. "You girls have been very naughty, haven't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Celeste stated in a small voice as her mother watched her through narrowed eyes.

"I believe that there is a punishment due in response to your attitude," Emma told the quintuplets. "I will teach you a lesson in discipline and then you will serve Har-Rell and then me. Is that clear?"

The Cuckoos nodded up and down looking like bubbleheads.

"Let us begin," Emma stated firmly. "Your clothes are not required, so remove them."

**Smut/Lemon Begins.**

-PROFILE-

**Smut/Lemon Ends.**

Harry smiled as he saw six masterfully fucked blondes unconscious on the floor. He looked down at them with a bow and a nod as he looked over his shoulder.

He left them in Emma's office to sleep off the ravages of what happened as he slipped into the night for his next appointment.

* * *

A couple of days later, Harry showed up at the Daily Bugle, mischief dancing through his eyes.

"Harry!" Chloe offered with a cheer as she threw her arms around her boyfriend's waist and leaned forward, giving him a huge kiss on the lips.

Harry tightened his arms around Chloe and held her in tightly against his waist.

"Hi Chloe," Harry offered breathlessly and she pulled away from him.

"I was wondering when you were going to get a chance to stop by," Chloe said and Harry raised an eyebrow. "You're as busy as about ten men."

"Well, you know I can split myself into ten men," Harry informed her.

Chloe raised an eyebrow and she nodded. "Yeah, point well taken."

"So, is Lois back to work?"

Chloe smiled. "Yes, she is back to work, in fact, I'm sure she'd be happy to see you."

Harry smiled at Chloe as the two entered the building. It was obvious that the feeling was mutual, although if Lois stopped being so stubborn, then they would really be able to move on. Harry figured that she didn't want to admit that she was fooled by a pair of glasses, even though it was for a short, short time.

"PARKER, MAKE SURE YOU GET ME THOSE PHOTOS. PHOTOS OF SPIDER-MAN! I WANT THEM, TWO DAYS AGO!"

It wouldn't be a visit to the Bugle without hearing the loud and boisterous voice of J. Jonah Jameson and Harry raised an eyebrow at Chloe who snickered in amusement.

"Ah, that's Jameson for you," Chloe commented as she kept her gaze locked on Harry. "So shall we…"

Harry nodded as he made his way into the office.

A redhead girl nearly ran Harry over as she made her way into the office.

"Sorry….sorry…." she commented as she managed to slow down long enough to apologize. "Oh…you're him aren't you? The big boss?"

"Yes, I am," Harry agreed with her and the female nodded up and down as she tried to keep herself calm.

"Jenny Olsen, I'm a photographer, well I want to be someday, right now I'm an intern," Jenny offered to Harry and he smiled.

"It's okay, we need to keep reaching for the stars," Harry said as he looked at her. "So did you get any pictures….pictures of Spider-Man?"

Chloe could not resist snickering at that expression and Jenny shook her head as she tried to keep herself calm.

"Yeah well a few but….."

"Don't worry, you've been at this for about what, nine months, ten months?"

Jenny nodded, she had started in August of last year, right before the meteor shower that struck New York. It was now almost June. Come to think of it, it really didn't seem like that much time went by but she was proven wrong.

Smiling at her gently, Harry turned around and couldn't help but take not of another female that was standing there. She had shoulder length blonde hair that was tied back. A red shirt was wrapped around her very sizable D-Cup breasts, a short black skirt highlighted her perfect ass. She had long shapely stocking clad legs that would be the envy of many women which fed into a pair of high heels.

"Miss Grant….I heard about your ordeal," Harry told the blonde and she turned towards Harry, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"Um, yeah, it was bad," Cat offered him lamely but she was distracted. Much like many females before her, she'd already gotten lost in those emerald green eyes. They were a weapon used to make women weak in their knees.

"But you're already back to work, which say's something about your character and I have to say, I'm a fan of your work," Harry stated and Cat raised an eyebrow at that, as she continued to watch him closely.

"Um….yeah….I'm….thanks," Cat stated nervously. She was face to face with her boss, the main shareholder, so naturally she would be a bit out of her depth and was a bit nervous for her job.

"No, thank you," Harry told her as he placed a hand on hers then squeezed it reassuringly causing the blonde to nod her head up and down. "You deserve all the credit for everything that you've done and then more."

Cat swallowed the lump in her throat.

"And where is the other star reporter….ah there she is."

Harry smiled as he saw another member of Daily Bugle Communications who was walking around like she was in a hurry. He noticed that she moved very fast.

This female had red hair that was tied back. Her face was that of an angel, with amazing green eyes, and a juicy set of lips. She wore a purple blouse that wrapped around her D-Cup breasts snugly, along with a blazer jacket. She had a skirt that wrapped around her tight and toned ass. Harry saw her legs were covered with stockings and said legs were drool worthy.

"Mr. Potter, I was wondering when I'd run into you," the female stated as she moved towards him. "Sorry, I haven't met you yet, but I've been rushing around I'm…."

"I know who you are Miss West," Harry told the woman and she paused.

"Right, right, of course you know who I am," Iris commented in a hyperactive manner as Harry took her hand and placed a kiss on the top of. "And please it's Iris."

"Then it's Harry," Harry offered as he matched the tone that she gave him.

"Right, right, of course," Iris stated as she nodded her head up and down as she felt her heart beat rapidly within her chest. She knew that it already beat pretty fast due to her powers but for some reason, it felt like her pulse sped up.

She wondered if this was because she was getting hungry. The redhead reached over and indulged herself in a few donuts. About eight of them. In a row. But she had to keep up with the demands of her metabolism.

"I don't know how she keeps them down," Betty whispered as she turned up. "Harry, it's nice to see you again."

"Yes, it's good to see you again, as well, Betty," Harry offered to her as he smiled at the woman. "I trust you've been doing well."

Betty waved off his statement with a smile on her face.

"I've been keeping busy enough, you know how Jameson is," Betty told Harry and the smile stretched over his face. He could barely keep it off.

"I think anyone with a working set of ears has a pretty good idea," Harry said and Cat, Chloe, Iris, and Betty all laughed in amusement.

"Again, that is something that goes without saying," Chloe commented as she turned around. "And here comes Lois."

Lois walked towards them shaking her head in frustration.

"You look tense, Lois," Harry told the woman.

"I am tense," Lois commented in a hot voice as she sat down. "I miss three days of work but it feels like I've missed three months."

Harry smiled. "That's how it normally goes when you miss work."

Lois sighed in pleasure she felt Harry's hands on her shoulders. There was a few seconds where he paused and then she allowed him to work his magic on her shoulders as he massaged them.

"Better," Harry whispered in her ear and Lois tried to play it cool.

"What do you think?" Lois asked.

'_Stubborn to a fault,' _Chloe thought and Harry had no idea if she was referring to him, Lois or herself. Any of them could be logical conclusion._ "But you….work your magic.'_

"So, it seems to me that you're working on a big story," Harry stated to Lois as he continued the massage her.

Lois closed her eyes as she felt his hands work her over, massaging the back of her neck. "Yes, it's the Master Planner thing, he's been around for a year and no one's any closer to unmasking who he is."

Harry wished he knew. He heard from Gwen that he was giving Spider-Man the runaround, leading to him hitting dead end after dead end.

"I don't know what his game is," Lois stated as Harry worked his hands on the back of her neck and this caused her whimper a small amount at the pleasure she feeling as the other woman standing around wished that they were in Lois's place.

"Well, just off of the top of my head, I think that he might have some kind of master plan," Harry whispered and Lois glared over her shoulder.

"That ceased being funny a while ago," Lois remarked but Harry smiled.

"If you say so Lois."

There was an unspoken agreement and neither wanted to elude to anything, especially with so many ears nearby.

"So are you busy on Saturday Night?" Lois asked.

"I'm sure I can clear my schedule for you," Harry told her and Lois was appreciative of it.

She hoped that she could make him admit to what she already knew. She didn't want to admit that she had been fooled by the glasses for so long because that was embarrassing and made her feel like she should have the word "idiot" stamped upon her forehead.

She waited as Harry made his rounds around the Bugle bullpen.

* * *

"Everything's going well despite what happened," Gwen commented to Harry and the wizard smiled as the blonde walked beside him in the stronghold. The two locked arms as they made their way around the Stronghold.

"Yes, fairly well," Harry admitted to her as the two of them continued their walk. They were going to meet Kitty and Kara, maybe a couple of others as well to have some lunch.

"The press loves you this week," Gwen informed him.

"I'm glad," Harry said with a smile on his face. He knew about how fickle the press could be in the best of times, not to even mention the worst of times. Thankfully having a controlling interest in one of the largest newspapers in the city helped him move things forward.

"Harry!"

Kitty yelled as he threw her arms around his waist and Harry pulled her into a tight hug. The brunette wrapped her arms around him tightly as their lips met each other. The kiss was amazing as always.

Kitty wasn't the only one who was there.

Kara was there naturally, and she made the most out of her arrival, throwing her arms around Harry just seconds after Kitty broke the kiss, forcing her to phase through him or end up being smashed between the two Kryptonian's, and her lips found Harry's. He returned the kiss with fury as the two of them indulged themselves in each other.

Megan joined them a moment or two later. The pink haired Welsh mutant greeting Harry with a bright vibrant smile.

"Hey, Megan, do you need any more private tutoring?" Harry asked her and the pink haired mutant looked flushed but recovered with a shit eating grin.

"Well after what happened last time, are you sure that's such a good idea?" Megan asked and Harry held her in a one armed hug.

"The benefits outweigh the risks."

"Yeah, they would, especially with Harry. He could really stand to relax more often," Karen told them as she showed up with another new recruit.

"So our guest is here," Harry offered to the female.

"Hi!" Kitty stated in an excited voice, pleased to see flesh blood.

Alison snorted as she showed up to join them for the meal. The blonde pop thought that Kitty needed some tact.

"So, how are you enjoying the new schedule?" Harry asked her.

"Much easier on me," Alison commented as she turned to him. "My old manager, he was running me into the ground. I'm beginning to see why so many pop stars turn to vices."

"Unfortunately, that seems to be the case with most of them," Harry agreed with the female as he held her in with a tight hug.

"Harry, this is the ward that I mentioned that I had," Karen said to Harry and this allowed Harry to turn his full attention to the new guest.

She had short dark hair that framed her face. She had an exotic set of violet eyes that shined brightly, with the shy smile on her face. She had some amazing curves as well. The white shirt wrapped around her large breasts that were not quite Karen size but she was still quite busty. Her shirt rode up to showcase a tantalizing hint of her midriff and her stomach was flat, smooth, and toned. Harry thought that it showed all she had to offer well. She had a pair of tight jeans.

"Professor Potter, it's good to finally meet you," the girl said in a respectful voice, as she was intimidated by his larger than life presence.

"Atlee, it's good to meet you as well," Harry stated as he extended a hand towards her. "I want to welcome you to the Shining Light Academy for Girls, this overly excited bundle of joy is Kitty Pryde."

"Pleased to meet you Atlee, if there's anything I can do to help you, don't hesistate to ask!" Kitty stated as she took her job as one of the senior members of the school very seriously.

"And this is Kara," Harry announced and he turned to the other blonde beside him. "And this is Gwen Stacy."

"Pleased to meet you Atlee," Gwen stated in a far more restrained tone than Kitty. Then again, she was technically a legal adult, so she figured that she should be the epitome of maturity and lead by example.

Most of the time anyway although she had her exceptions as much as the next person.

"And this is Megan, oh and hi Amara," Harry stated as the Nova-Roman Princess walked towards Harry and looked at him tensely.

"Harry, can I have a word with you, briefly, for a little bit," Amara whispered to Harry and she seemed really tense come to think of it.

"Sure, Gwen, Kitty, Kara, could I trust you three girls to help Atlee settle in?" Harry asked.

Gwen, who had decided to help out at the school during her summer vacation because it was going to net her more Harry time and also it was going to allow her to be a part of this movement, smiled. "Sure, Harry, no problem."

He could see that the Amara situation was an event that needed his immediate attention. The two young lovers walked outside the room and Harry waited for her to say what she needed to say.

Amara made eye contact with Harry nervously and she managed to spit it out. "My father's not doing well."

Harry frowned at her, this was contrary to what she told him before. "I thought you say that he was getting better."

A despondent look appeared on Amara's face but then there was one of determination that replaced it immediately. "He was getting better but now he's taking a turn for the worse. I figured that this would happen someday."

Amara swallowed and she reached towards his hand. Harry decided to meet her halfway by clasping it into his own.

"He shouldn't have given you that offer, he thought that he could hang onto the kingdom if he signed away half of the women," Amara said to Harry. "He could have retired, lived in seclusion for the rest of his days, if he did what Selene asked of him."

"That was his own mistake," Harry concluded.

Amara nodded her head with a surprisingly accepting smile. Then again, it was more a cultural thing than anything else as to why she was so accepting of this.

"Mistake, a huge mistake," Amara offered to him as she frowned and Harry held onto her hands with the young Princess staring back at him. "He was told by Selene what to do should you turn up. He was told to the letter and if he followed that to the letter, he would still have his health."

"You seem like…."

"The first duty to the people of Nova-Roma is their lord," Amara told him in a firm tone of voice as she dropped to one knee and held Harry's hand, kneeling before him. "And as the future king of the country, soon there will be no question who is running the show around there. I recommend that you banishing all males to another location so they do not get disappointed with never being able to measure up to a living god such as yourself."

"If that's the course of action that you think I should take…."

"Yes, I believe that it would be prudent, my lord," Amara commented as she got up to face him, although to be accurate it was more like she staring into his soul. Harry held his arms out towards her and pulled the young female into a simmering kiss which she returned.

The two of them broke apart after indulging themselves in each others lips.

"I believe Selene is intending to arrange just that, although I suspect those who don't go peacefully will live to regret it," Harry commented but he added. "For the short time she allows them to live."

"Yes, I would have to agree, my lord," Amara told him as she smiled. "Shall we join the others for lunch?"

"Lead the way, my princess," Harry told her and the two of them walked with their arms locked.

"Oh, Alison's music is great, you're putting out a new CD soon, aren't you?" Kara asked in a gushing tone as she was educating Atlee on the greatness that was Dazzler.

Alison offered a modest smile. "Yes, July 15th. I'm hoping that everything works out well."

"Yeah, totally, but since it's you, it should be kind of awesome," Kitty offered as she watched Harry and Amara. Harry took a seat between Kara and Kitty that they saved for him.

Amara took the seat next to Atlee, who was across from Harry.

"I hope you're finding everything well," Harry told Atlee and she was caught in his eyes.

"Yes…quite well," Atlee said to him as she finally found her tongue.

"So where do you come from Atlee?" Kara asked and Harry gave her an exasperated look. The blonde looked confused as to why.

Gwen shook her head.

"No, it's fine, it's deep underground, Karen found me after she picked up on our distress beacon but I was the only one that was left," Atlee offered to them but she amended. "As far as we know."

"Given that we're among the last of our kind, trust me, we can sympathize," Harry offered to her and Atlee's smile was bright. "I think that you can join in with lessons."

"What are your powers?" Gwen asked.

"I can move the Earth, cause Earthquakes and stuff," Atlee offered.

"Oh, you mean like Avalanche," Kitty stated but she wrinkled her nose, saying that name like it was a pretty bad personal recommendation.

"Yeah. How about no. Alvers can make the ground shake. Karen did some simulations that showed Atlee is capable of animating stone constructs and throwing boulders the size of mountains when she reaches full strength," Harry stated bluntly and then he added with a smile that crossed his face. "She's also much easier on the eyes."

Atlee blushed at being addressed by Harry directly and in such endearing terms. The young wizard offered a grin but he played it cool.

"Who is Avalanche?" Atlee asked before she could help herself.

Gwen was going to field this question. "His name is Lance Alvers….which given a name like that, would his codename be anything but fucking Avalanche?"

Harry ran that thought through his head for a moment and figured that Gwen had a point.

Kitty was the next to chime in with a few words of her own. "He's part of a group of mutants that call themselves the Brotherhood. They're a group of mutants that….well let's just put it this way, none of them give mutants a good name at all."

"Don't worry though, Fury's got them locked up nice and tight," Kara offered, remembering what Harry told her.

"Is that a good thing?" Gwen asked as she sighed. "I mean SHIELD…."

"I know, but Fury thinks that he could make something out of those losers, and I wish him the best of luck," Kitty commented with a giggle at the thought of the Brotherhood actually being useful, before she took a sip of the soda that she was drinking

Harry watched her. Kitty and caffeine was not a mix that filled him with confidence.

Never the less, the group enjoyed lunch together.

"Faora's settling in nicely, although she chomping at the bit to see you again," Karen quipped to Harry, who snickered at the thought.

"Oh if that isn't true, I don't know what is," Harry offered to the blonde Kryptonian across from him.

"She'll be a good fit, with her knowledge of Kryptonian technology, she was force fed more knowledge than should be allowed," Karen stated as she sipped her coffee and there was a few seconds where she leaned back.

"That much is true."

Harry had lunch with the group of girls for a little bit more and he decide to make his rounds around the school, just a simple check in on all of the guests and the people who were living there.

He came across Betsy who was throwing psychic knives at a target to improve her aim.

"Hello, Harry, love, care to join me in a spar?" Betsy asked him and with those words, she stayed standing with her back to Harry, which allowed him to get a view of her ass in a tight pair of pants.

"I would be disappointed if you didn't ask," Harry said and with that, Betsy turned around to face him. It was obvious how Betsy detected Harry was there.

There was a mirror right in the room where she could see anyone who snuck up on her. Unless they were invisible of course but her being telepathic would also help, unless Harry shielded his mind. Which he did not do outside of the stronghold.

The two of them squared off from one another, dropping into their preferred combat stances with practiced ease.

"So, we should begin now, shouldn't we?" she asked and Harry smiled.

"After you, my dear lady," Harry commented as he gave Betsy the go ahead to start the spar.

"Yes, I shall," Besty commented as she went for a kick towards Harry, but immediately he dodged underneath the attack with nimble precision.

A sword manifested itself in Harry's hand and he twirled it before thrusting it at her.

She dodged the jab and then put up a field to block another attack.

"Reflexes are good," Harry told her.

Betsy offered him a saucy smile. "Well that much should be obvious, love."

The two of them circled each other and continued their little sparring session. Harry was grabbed around the arm but he turned the tables.

The next thing Betsy knew, Harry was on top of her, having her pinned down to the ground. He straddled her and their crotches touched, brushing together briefly. The only barrier between the two of them was their clothes.

"Very well done," Betsy breathed as she wrapped her legs around Harry and flipped him over. She pinned him down to the ground and straddled his hips.

"I aim to please," Harry stated as she leaned over top of him. "And the tables have turned but how long can you keep them turned?"

Harry grabbed onto her ass.

"Naturally you go straight…."

Harry had Betsy on the ground and he held her against the ground. She grinded against him in her attempts to free herself but the delightful friction between the two of them.

Betsy gave a yelp and a pleasurable sigh as Harry pinned her back against the mats on the wall. He had her arms lifted up and the mutant closed her eyes.

"Well it appears that you have the leverage or do you?" Betsy asked as she ground her crotch up and down against Harry's, causing a delicious amount of friction.

"You'll find that I have more leverage," Harry whispered and Betsy found herself turned around, as she was pressed face first into the wall.

Wrist clamps went around her wrists and ankles which kept her against the wall.

"I think that it's time for us to have some fun," Harry breathed as he cupped the area between her legs and caused her to shiver.

"Yes," Betsy panted eagerly and Harry ran his hands down the back of her legs, causing her a shuddering moan.

He decided that it was now time to take everything that he wanted and then more so from this woman.

"Take me, love, I'm here, and I'm wet," Betsy begged as she saw Harry's hands down her nubile body.

"If you insist," Harry breathed hotly in her ear, his dick was throbbing hard and ready to be inside this hot babe.

**Smut/Lemon Begins.**

-PROFILE-

**Smut/Lemon Ends.**

* * *

A cold dark facility was the scene that presented the group of four. The walls were bare, there was nothing but some cold and sterile equipment that they had no idea what it did. There was a small window that was down that they could see a shadow stirring on the other side.

"Where are we now?"

That was a groan that escaped the lips of one Pietro Maximoff or as he was better known, Quicksilver. He had spent the last year of his life as a guest of SHIELD as they tried to convince him and his team to use their talents for something better then getting their asses kicked by the X-Men on a weekly basis.

Pietro snorted, like he would ever work for one eye and his men. He would sooner shack up with Summers then work with SHIELD.

"Gentlemen, good evening."

A slimy youth with dead brown hair and grimy skin looked up. "Gentlemen, is he…."

"Tolansky, quiet I'm trying to think!" Pietro snapped.

Someone started to chuckle. "Thought I smelled something burning."

"SHUT UP ALVERS!"

Lance tried to push his head up but he found himself rather weak.

"You are very weak, incredibly pathetic, and utterly moronic, but soon you will be very strong."

"Hey, we're not weak, just give us five minutes alone with anyone…."

"You've lost to the X-Men how many times?" asked the modulated voice.

The large blonde man tried to pull himself up, his fat bottom sinking on the ground.

"Something tells me we're not at my mother's house," Todd stated as he tried to push himself up off of the ground. His mother checked out years ago of course, her name was Dolores and his father joined the circus to get away from his mother.

"No, we're not, stupid!" Fred yelled as he tried to get up once more as well.

The man on the other end of the screen clucked his tongue. He had a few run ins with Arcane and the rest of his team, far too many run ins come to think about it. He narrowed his eyes as he stared the youths on the ground in front and thought about them. Their potential was lacking, unless of course they were used as guinea pigs. Which they were perfect for.

"Is it ready?" the modulated voice asked.

"Yes, sir," Phineas Mason, better known as the Tinkerer, stated as he looked over his equipment. He made sure the green rock was in place.

"These rocks have the potential to give powers, but I want to know what they do on those who already have mutant abilities first," the man stated. "And if they perish, they are of no big loss."

"Agreed," The Tinker stated as he placed his hand on the dial. These were punks, the worst kind of mutants. They weren't even successful punks.

"Boys, how would you like power beyond your wildest dreams?"

"Did we just get offered ultimate power by psychotic Ben Franklin?" Lance asked and the Brotherhood looked at him.

"Who in the hell is Ben Franklin?" Fred asked in a dumb voice.

"You really are a dumbshit," Todd stated as he shook his head. "Don't know who Ben Franklin is, obviously he's guy on the dollar bill!"

Pietro shook his head, he really needed to find better people to hang out with. They were dragging him down by association, that much was for sure.

"Gentlemen."

"I think he means us," Todd stated to Pietro.

"Well, I think he means me," Pietro offered in a slightly smug voice.

"You will have powers beyond your wildest dreams, powers with which you can defeat the X-Men."

"Hey, that sounds awesome," Todd stated.

"But there's got to be a catch…."

"Alvers shut up, you don't question anything like this!" Pietro snapped and Lance looked resigned to accept the power, because quite frankly it did not look like he had much of a choice anyway. "So zap us, Benny Boy, zap us!"

"As you wish," The Tinkerer stated, thinking that these meteor rocks would either empower these fucking idiots or cause them to melt them into a pile of goo. Either way, it would be an interesting experiment. Personally he was hoping it would melt them into a pile of goo.

He pulled the lever and they were impacted with an energy beam powered by the green rocks.

Tinkerer knew that the power might be temporary but they would learn much more about how this technology worked from an autopsy.

**To Be Continued.**


	4. Chapter 4: The Boys Are Back

**Chapter Four: The Boys Are Back.**

"Well, if there is one thing that I can't fault you on, no matter how hard that I try, is that you always keep your promises."

Lois said this as she held onto Harry's arm as the two of them walked into one of the most exclusive places in the entire city. Harry wondered if he was going to need to have the smile surgically removed from Lois's face for it was wide and extremely prominent. The two of them made their way inside after showing his credentials.

Harry was wearing a very fancy tuxedo, which he supposed that he looked fairly nice in. Although this type of suit didn't suit him, it was all about projecting a certain image to the public eye. Ever since his takeover of the Hellfire Club, he had a few new doors opened to him. He also made it his mission to close a few doors on a couple of others.

"It's nice that the two of us are able to get together outside of work, because it's been rare over the past couple of weeks," Harry told Lois as the two of them stepped inside and they were escorted to their table.

"It is," Lois agreed with the smile that she could barely keep off of her face. She could see the sun setting and it was beautiful although her reporter instincts sensed that there was something extremely eerie about that particular sunset.

She wondered if this was going to be the night that Harry was going reveal who he really was to her. A part of her also wondered if he knew, that she knew, but was going to not say anything, because he wanted her to be the one to admit that she was wrong.

Lois wasn't down for that one, Lois Lane invented the stubborn game.

"So how's your sister?" Harry asked her and she smiled.

"Lucy….she's mostly staying out of trouble, at least I haven't gotten a phone call to bail her out recently," Lois commented, as she sat down across from him and they waited for the waiter to come to take their order.

"I'm sure you've gotten in your fair share of trouble, Miss Lane," Harry told her.

Lois frowned innocently. "I have no idea what you might be referring to, Mr. Potter."

Harry smiled then paused, as there was a moment where he thought that the waiter was about to come to him but did not, before offering his one word response. "Right."

Harry wondered if Lois was going to bring up the Elephant in the room, although he knew that she figured that out months ago. Although there were a couple of months that she got fooled by a pair of glasses and she was quite embarassed by it, that much he could tell.

And she was not about to admit that she got fooled, so Harry was not going to insult her intelligence.

"So how are things at the school?" Lois asked Harry and he smiled.

"Couple of new recruits. Chloe's really getting things going on the Torch. I also added some security to your apartment."

"Yeah, the Death threats are piling in, do you get the feeling that Creed's about to do something stupid?" Lois asked him and Harry offered her a smile at that. "I know, bringing up work when we're supposed to be on a date it's just…."

"Yeah, I have that feeling that Creed's going to do something stupid. You're right on the ball with that one, Lois," Harry told her as he reached over to take her hand in his. "But, whatever it is…."

Whatever it was, Harry never had a chance to finish for a loud bang echoed from outside of the room. Harry stood up straight, turning around at the sound of a second and then a third explosion, which caused the ground to rumble beneath their feet.

'_And it wouldn't be a day in the life of Harry Potter if….some shit didn't get fucked up,' _Harry finished lamely.

'_We're about three blocks away,' _Jean offered to Harry._ 'That being Kitty, Rogue, and I, you want us to take a look into it?'_

'_Yes, please,' _Harry thought.

Lois frowned as she looked over her shoulder. She had no idea what happened but it sounded like a story. At least that's what one would gather from the explosions that could be heard although the source was still yet to be determined. The young woman sat up straighter than ever before.

"What is going on?" Lois asked as she made her way over to the window and suddenly, the ground rocked underneath her once more.

Harry caught Lois around the waist and held her up.

"I think there's been an attack," Harry whispered to her and despite herself, Lois could not help but spit out the sarcasm.

"You think so, Captain Obvious?" Lois asked Harry and he raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I know but…."

"Stay here. I'll see what I can do to help," Harry told Lois as he slipped off to the side and made his way onto the scene.

He figured that was the closest that he was going to admit to being who he was to Lois without her bringing it up first. And he had a feeling that she knew that as well but there was another loud shake under the ground caused him to hasten his steps.

'_It's Avalanche,' _Kitty thought as she dodged the falling buildings.

'_Yeah, and he brought all of his little friends,' _Rogue thought as she dodged slime that Toad vomited from his mouth, which blew up a car upon making contact with it._ 'Do not let that stuff touch you.'_

'_Wait…it sounds like you're having trouble…..with the Brotherhood?' _Harry asked. He thought that the girls were doing rather well in their training. So he was more than surprised, that they were having issues with such a low level threat like the Brotherhood.

''_No, it's so totally...no trouble...it's…' _Kitty rambled then she screamed, as the Earth underneath her feet moved and then several cars went flying. Thankfully she was able to go intangible to avoid being crushed into paste by objects several times bigger than her.

Harry frowned, those screams sounded like they were having a lot of trouble. He turned around and blasted down the hallway, faster than a speeding bullet.

He landed on the ground and he saw the Blob standing there.

"Alright! Finally, I was wondering when you'd show up!" Blob yelled as he held up his arms triumphantly. "You'll pay for embarrassing me!"

"You do a pretty good job of doing that yourself," Harry commented in a dry voice but Quicksilver blasted at him from behind at super speed.

Harry suddenly felt winded as the speedy mutant came in proximity to him. The half second delay being all Quicksilver needed as he pushed him forwards rather hard.

"Alright, let's try that…."

He was tripped up by Quicksilver once again.

"What's the matter Arcane, too slow to touch this?" Quicksilver asked mockingly as he circled him like a cyclone and tripped him up again and again.

'_The bloody hell….okay fine, try this…'_

He sent a net at Quicksilver but he was moving so fast that it passed through him. His molecules were vibrating so quickly that Harry could not even touch him.

They were vibrating so fast that Harry had a feeling that it wasn't healthy for Quicksilver at all. He tried to snatch the young mutant but said mutant slipped out of Harry's grasp like it was nothing.

"C'mon!" Quicksilver cheered mockingly.

Jean felt herself rattled when flying debris smacked her in the back of the head. She blocked most of it with a shield but she was preoccupied with getting civilians out of harm's way.

'_Jean, these chumps should not be this powerful!" _Rogue yelled, as she saw Toad's suddenly explosive slime blow up even more of the street.

Jean used her telekinetic force shield to protect any nearby civilians.

'_We beat these chumps all of the time! Did Fury do this to them?!' _Kitty thought, she wanted to strangle something. _'I'm going to wring his neck!'_

'_Kitty, focus!' _Harry yelled as he moved around the Blob but it appeared that the Blob was bigger than ever before.

Harry tried to lift the Blob but he could not even move him. Not physically, not even with magic.

"Ha!" Blob yelled as he smashed his hands down onto Harry's shoulders, who rolled with the impact but it felt like his collarbone broke from the sheer force.

'_You've got to be fucking kidding me!' _Harry yelled as he pulled himself up. _'I can move mountains and the fucking Blob takes me out!'_

"I've been waiting a long time for this!" Avalanche yelled as he raised his hands to the air but a hex bolt blasted him in the face.

Wanda showed up to join the party.

"Hey sis!" Quicksilver yelled as he rushed in from behind Wanda and tripped her up with ease.

She tried to blast him but he was now much too quick for her powers.

'_Okay, I'll bite, what did they do to my idiot brother and his idiot friends to make them this powerful, because they shouldn't be this powerful!' _Wanda yelled out, the frustration was obvious from her tone.

'_They shouldn't be, yet they are,_' Harry thought to them as he felt weakened by their very presence.

He recognized the energy signature coming from the Blob. It was Kryptonite, although there were a few more chemicals mixed in, thus causing his cure to act up in a weird way.

'_We're not going to beat these guys in straight up fight, not now,' _Harry thought to the girls.

'_Seriously? It's just….we can't run from the Brotherhood!' _Rogue yelled, as she was taking this very personally.

'_Not running, just withdrawing to regroup and assess our options,' _Harry thought as he warped the girls out of harm's way.

"_We did it! we beat them!" Quicksilver yelled but Avalanche shook his head in disagreement._

"We should have buried them alive!" Avalanche shouted at Quicksilver, he felt his rage escalate the more he used his powers. The more he used them, the angrier he got and the more it hurt, yet he could not stop using them.

"Don't yell at me!" Blob growled as he gritted his teeth. He felt even hungrier than ever before and he rolled over a cart of hot dogs and stuffed them down his gullet, but he could not sate his overwhelming hungry. No matter how much he tried.

Quicksilver winced and closed his eyes, the pace of everything was so slow that it was giving him a headache.

* * *

"Good Lois...got out okay...yeah...they're gone. I figured that they wouldn't be at the Bugle...good thing you got photos. I'm sure that will make Jameson happy, although I can override him if he gets too out of control," Harry informed her over over the phone.

Jean, Kitty, Rogue, and Wanda stood near him, all in various states of agitation. Which is what Gwen showed up to and she looked them over, taking in their battered states.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" Gwen asked quite bluntly.

"We got our asses kicked by the fucking Brotherhood of Evil Morons," Kitty muttered in a frustrated voice. Still unable to believe that such a thing occurred.

Gwen, despite the fact that she could tell that the situation was serious, couldn't help her next question "How? No offense….but..."

"Yes, we've beaten them a million times, maybe two million even," Jean offered as she rubbed her temples. It was hard to even get her head together. There was something really screwy going on here.

"They even took Harry down," Kitty offered quietly and Gwen suddenly became even more interested as she walked towards him.

"Are you alright?" Gwen asked Harry.

"Fine," Harry said as he blocked out the pain of the bruised collarbone that he had or maybe it was broken. Harry was so used to pain that it did not even register in his mind that he was hurt.

"You don't sound fine," Gwen offered him and Harry looked at her sharply. Gwen threw her hands into the air for the universal sign of surrender at that. Though, the narrowed eyed look she gave him made him feel like a massive jerk for snapping at her like that, no matter how the circumstances warranted it.

"I'm going to have my mother take a look at this," Harry said after a moment under that gaze. Causing Gwen to give him an inquiring look. He decided to clarify. "Lara, because she's a doctor…."

"If you need a doctor to look at that, you might not be so fine….actually aren't you supposed to be faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?" Gwen asked him.

Harry couldn't help but smile at that despite the pain he was in.

"So, I've been told," Harry informed her but he found it hard to even take a breath. Sheer stubborn will was something that was practically encoded in Harry's DNA and that was all that kept him standing at the moment.

Kara was in the chamber, visiting with her mother and aunt, along with the rest of the Council. She saw the state Harry was in and rushed over immediately, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug, which caused Harry to wince and let out a sharp breath.

"You're hurt!" Kara said as she pulled away, her eyes flashing in horror. "Who in the name of RAO hurt you?"

"The Brotherhood," Harry offered.

"They're dead," Kara stated fiercely, her eyes glowing red with her angry.

"Kara, it's not that simple. Someone upgraded their powers," Harry commented, he was not sure who would give a group of glorified thugs extra powers but he was not going to question it all that much. "And now I've got to figure out what to do next."

"I'll check the injury Harry," Lara offered him, then proceeded to begin the scan.

Seconds later, Lara give Harry the diagnosis and it wasn't good.

"Busted collarbone, several fractured vertebrae, a concussion, if it wasn't for your Kryptonian gifts, you would be screwed. Hell, I'm not even sure how your moving at the moment," Lara stated bluntly.

Lily frowned upon hearing that. "His injuries will heal, right?"

"They will, although given they're nature, healing will be very slow going," Lara stated, which caused Harry to wince as he heard that further diagnosis.

Harry sighed as he tried to get himself focused back on the matter at hand. Even though it hurt to move, his shoulder in particular. He was surprised that he did not separate it as well.

"I've got some scans off all of them, if that will help? We might be able to find a way to beat these guys," Harry said as he looked at Gwen, who was gently holding his hand.

Kitty popped her head in, agitation present in her eyes.

"It's worse than we thought," Kitty breathed as she handed Harry the print out off of the Internet.

"The Brotherhood knocked off a bank?" Gwen asked her. "How very comic book villain of them."

Kitty shook her head. "No, you see, it's kind of like this…OW!"

Kara flicked Kitty in the back of her head and whistled innocently.

"Anyway, it's like this," Kitty said as if that didn't just happen. "Lance should not be able to move the Earth that well. Pietro should not be able to go that quick. Todd's slime should not be explosive, and most importantly Fred should not be able to fucking hurt Harry!"

"Which means…."

"Give me the scans. We'll figure out exactly what that means," Lara offered and there was a pause. "Gwen? could you…."

"Of course," Gwen said in a bright voice with a smile. She'd almost be insulted if she didn't get asked to help. The blonde helped Lara sort through everything. It was a slow process but they needed to figure out answers yesterday.

Harry wondered how this happened. The Brotherhood should not have been this good, not this powerful, especially given everything that had occurred in the past.

"There's the Kryptonite factor to consider as well," Harry told them.

"We were cured of that though," Kara persisted stubbornly but then she paused. "Although certain chemicals could potential…"

There was a buzzing sound that echoed through the room.

"Harry, Nick Fury wants to speak to you. He says it's urgent," Lana told Harry over the intercom.

Harry figured that he would get this over with. There was a slight smile that crossed his face as he gave Lana the word.

"Put him on," Harry told Lana.

"We have a situation!"

Harry offered a pained grimace and then spoke calmly "Is this about four super powered delinquents that were supposed to be under your watch?"

"Yes, SHIELD can't take them down, they escaped during Zod's invasion," Fury offered as he looked at them. "Surely you're able to beat them…."

"I'm working on it Fury, don't get your knickers in a twist," Harry told him in a pained voice. He was still feeling his injuries.

"Well work faster."

"Yes, mother," Harry deadpanned as Gwen, Kitty, and Kara all looked quite amused despite the seriousness of the situation.

He was working out a way to defeat them although if his initial observations were true, the Brotherhood didn't have that much time left. And that meant that there was only one way to deal with the enhanced mutant powers that were slowly killing the person who had them.

"Well, this is worse than I thought," Harry told them after looking through the results Lara and Gwen had prepared for him. Which caused Kara to nearly give herself whiplash as she turned to face him.

"What...how?"

Jean, Wanda, and Rogue made their way inside, they needed to hear this.

"Well, if the Brotherhood doesn't get stopped soon, their powers will go critical and New York and most of New Jersey will be obliterated," Harry told them grimly.

If that statement did not underscore how serious the situation was, nothing would.

* * *

"Damn it, what's wrong with us?"

Lance felt a pain go through his wrist but he needed to use his powers. He craved using his powers. He turned to the mirror that was on the side of the wall where they were holed up.

"Hey, relax," Todd stated as he felt the inside of his mouth burn and he looked at the mirror and grimaced. All the skin of the inside of his mouth was burned to a crisp, oh boy that was not good. He lifted his hands to the top of his head as felt the slime burn through the bottom of his lip.

"I can't relax!" Lance yelled as the ground cracked beneath them and Todd jumped away. The Toad was feeling the burn, in more ways than one.

"That guy, he gave us powers!" Fred stated as he inhaled an entire cart full of ice cream until it was completely gone, but he didn't feel any satisfaction from it. In fact, it was like he was never even hungry.

"Hey, chill guys, sure your powers are acting weird…."

Lance got in Pietro's face and pinned him up against the wall but he vibrated through his grip.

"Our powers aren't fucking acting weird, our fucking powers are killing us!" Lance yelled as he felt a stabbing sensation through his temples.

"Hey man? Are you…."

"No, I'm not okay. Not okay at all," Lance managed as he collapsed to the ground. "That guy….we got to find him."

"Well, do you know where he was?" Todd asked to him.

The thing was that they got knocked out after being bombarded by that green shit and now they were here.

Lance stepped outside, did he have to bury the entire city underneath rubble to be satisfied? Every time he used his powers, it ached so badly in his body and every time he couldn't use his powers, it also hurt. His ribs throbbed with the pain as he nearly dropped down to the ground.

Blood dripped from his mouth and he screamed as he threw his hands into the air. Avalanche was not having a good time.

"This is SHIELD! Hands up in the air now!"

Lance stepped forward and he felt like his head was on fire.

"You….STAY AWAY!" Avalanche yelled as he caused the ground to rock and sent debris flying everywhere which SHIELD had to duck.

"Get in close!" one of the agents shouted out, but the ground shook too much, causing them to be rocked and rolled. The entire group was unable to stay on their feet, their equilibrium was rocked as Lance stood up to his feet.

Quicksilver stepped forward and ran over the shaking ground.

He paused, as he felt pain stabbing through his stomach.

"What…." he stated as he nearly dropped to the ground. He did not believe, he could not believe, how could he feel this bad? It was nearly unbearable, he felt like he was going to cough up his lungs. He had to keep moving, there was no way he could ever stop. His eyes flashed with agony as he lifted his head up and then collapsed.

His arms and legs rocked back and forth as he coughed a bit as he tried to pick himself off of the ground. He braced his hands on the ground and lifted himself up one more time but his legs were twitching out of control now.

The Brotherhood was feeling the burn of powers that were slowly killing him.

Kara hovered over the scene in the sky above, she'd been order to intervene only if civilians got caught in the crossfire. She switched to the bond link.

'_Harry, I don't think we have that much time left,' _she told him and Harry decided to offer her one statement.

'_I believe you're right,' _Harry offered to the blonde as he wondered about if he was going to run out of time.

He had to put those negative thoughts out of his head, the cure was nearly done, though it would revert the Brotherhood to a state which they loathed. Although given that the alternative was being killed or worse, along with taking a bunch of people down with them, Harry didn't feel the need to take their feelings into consideration.

'_Three minutes, remember don't engage, stall, but don't engage,' _Harry thought.

'_Okay, I've got a visual on them,' _Kara thought as Wanda and Laura arrived to back her up and she might need it because Avalanche spotted them and thus started to bring the house down.

Laura dove to the ground then did a forward handspring out of the way of his attack.

"Just wait until I get my hands on that little…."

She dodged the follow-up attack and managed to pull SHIELD agents out of the way as well. Despite the fact that she had a healing factor, it did not mean that others did.

This was going to be a long day if Harry did not work his magic soon, that was something that all of the girls could agree on. As debris kept being flung at them and the more Lance used his powers, the angrier he got.

'_Got to knock him out,' _Wanda thought but her concentration was shaken by a sudden ringing in the back of his head.

* * *

Harry Potter was never a person who backed off even when he was under a copious amount of pressure and there was no question about it, he was under a lot of pressure presently. Hell he could barely move. If there were lives at stake and there were, it was worth being under all of this pressure. His tongue clicked against the roof of his mouth as he walked towards the scene of chaos. It was one of those situations where it was truly and utterly now or never. It was a do or die type situation.

"Do you think you got something that might work?"

Gwen asked that question honestly and even though Kitty did not ask that question, Harry could see the question burned on the tip of her tongue. Harry wished that he could honestly answer the girls but he did offer them one statement that he hoped would satisfy their curiosities. "We'll know in about five minutes."

He shushed the thought in the back of his head that he might not have five minutes to live, with what could potentially happen. Harry was not about to lose. No matter how hopeless it might seem and it could seem extremely hopeless. The young wizard pressed on, his nose to the wall. There were few things that rattled him any more, that was just the type of person that he was, that was what he did.

The wizard pushed himself towards another thought. If he failed, then there was going to be a slight problem that he was going to have to deal with. The emerald eyed enchanter shook his head, failure was simply not an option, there was no question about that.

'_Guess I'm going to have to do or die,' _Harry thought to himself, as he locked onto Kara. _'Kara, how's the situation?'_

Kara offered her assessment in a frank and irritated voice. '_It's getting worse Harry, I'm not sure how much longer we can hold the line.'_

Harry frowned and he let out the breath that he was holding in. _'Just a little longer, I swear.'_

Harry had the technology to remove mutant powers but having the technology and using the technology successfully, those were two different matters entirely. He had hoped with all his heart that he would never have to use such a thing, although if it saved lives, then he had no choice.

When certain people found out that he had this technology, they would be furious or they would get the boneheaded notion in their head that they could steal it for their own means to save the world from the mutant menace. Harry found himself devoid of many options in this situation, so he was going to do what he had to do. His heart sped up, nearly skipping several beats as he stood on the edge of the battle.

'_Ready, set, go,' _Harry commented to himself as he took a step forward with Gwen and Kitty ready, Rogue, Jean, and Wanda following close behind.

"They're dying aren't they?" Jean whispered and Harry offered her a plaintive look and then nodded. That was very true, the Brotherhood was in fact dying. Like them or not, they did not deserve to be killed in such a brutal manner.

They were thugs, super powered thugs, and nothing more.

Especially when innocent people were going to be caught in the crossfire.

Harry arrived and saw a huge part of the New York street in ruins. He was very annoyed but he figured that it would mean more work for the RAO Corporation. It was a small favor that they hadn't completely rebuilt this street yet since Avalanche more or destroyed everything around him.

"Arcane, Arcane, Arcane, you shouldn't have come back here!"

Quicksilver said that as he darted all around them like a super powered hummingbird and Harry was only barely able to hear him with his super powered senses.

"ARCANE! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Avalanche hurled debris at Harry who blocked what was being thrown at him with a shield spell. It smashed against the field again and again.

"You ruined my life, you and your…."

Harry fired the cure into the shoulder of Avalanche but he kept rumbling and rocking the ground beneath them.

"Damn it, why isn't it working?" Gwen cursed and Harry eyed the blonde as he offered one statement that underlined all of his frustrations at once.

"Your guess is as good as…."

Toad rushed over, and the girls scattered to avoid the slime he horked up at them, which blew up a section of the street where it made contact.

Wanda hexed Toad in the face and that caused him to choke on his own slime. It would not kill him but his sufferings should not be minimized.

Harry swooped in and stabbed Toad with the antidote.

'_Harry, Avalanche, he's actually regressing, I think it's working, it's so totally…OW!,' _Kitty moaned as she got smacked with something across the back of the head.

Kitty did see that Avalanche was down for the count, more or less broken into pieces from what happened. He was busted up, battered, and abused.

Toad went down as well and Harry saw Blob raid the refrigerator on one of the SHIELD transport vehicles. This was going to be easy.

"Hey, Blob, head's up!" Harry said as he threw Blob a cupcake that had the antidote inside of it.

"Hey!….Oh I guess you're not so bad after all," Blob said as he caught the cupcake in his hand and ate it in one disgusting bite, drool dripping down his mouth as crumbs were sticking to his chin.

The antidote coursed through his body and he landed on the ground, more full than he ever was.

Harry locked onto the hyper fast blur that was Quicksilver, which Wanda was trying to lock onto as well.

'_And then there was one,' _Harry thought as he watched Quicksilver move around like a super fast blur. He was trying to get a lock on the young man but he was unable to grab onto him. The young magical alien saw him and saw that time and space were about ready to warp around the young mutant and take them all down.

"SLOW DOWN!" Harry yelled as he wondered if it was going to be Pietro's powers that were going to open up some rift in time and space that were going to destroy them all

"Sorry, can't, hurts…."

If he wouldn't stop willingly, then Harry was going to make him stop. He run off into the other direction and flew up into the air.

"Yeah! That's right! You better run! Oh I'm too fast for you, too fast, too fast, too fast, too fast, too…."

BOOM!"

Harry flew into the back Pietro's head with a super powerful punch that cracked him hard. This slowed him down enough for Wanda to trip his own feet up so his powers wouldn't work properly.

Now it was the moment of truth. Harry held the antidote cure over his head and with one jab, he nailed him.

Pietro yelled as he felt his powers leave him. He was normal, completely and utterly normal but he was alive. He did not know what he found more awful, being normal, or being dead.

He was mortal, completely and utterly mortal but he was alive.

He did not know what he found more awful, being mortal, or being dead.

* * *

"The Brotherhood is back in SHIELD custody, although without their powers. I can't imagine them getting very far," Harry offered to Karen as he turned up to visit her.

"I heard a few reports about that on the news," Karen offered and she leaned towards Harry before asking the question that she was bursting to ask. "Any idea who ramped up their powers?"

Harry thought that was a question that would be answered in due time. "No, I wish I did, but the thing is, I kind of don't."

Harry let out the long whistle that he was holding in and Karen grabbed him by the hands.

"Well, I'm sure that you'll figure it out before too long," Karen offered to him, she could see the frustration burning through Harry's eyes and she wanted to do something to alleviate that. She thought that an inquiry into something else would be for the best. She offered Harry a chance to sit down on her chair as she stepped behind him. With another swift motion, Karen placed her hands on the back of his shoulders. "So how's Atlee?"

Karen rubbed the back of his shoulders, making circular motions with her hands. The blonde did her work really well and Harry closed his eyes, feeling the pleasure of her hands along with her breasts on the back of his neck. She continued to massage it as Harry relaxed underneath her grip.

"She's doing well, there are a couple of new students. Lorna's decided to stop by a bit more often for her lessons," Harry whispered to Karen which caused her to smile.

"Has her father given you any grief?" Karen asked.

"No, not particularly, Magneto's been quiet over the past few weeks," Harry said as he figured that he'd hear from the Master of Magnetism soon enough after what he did to his son.

"So are you banging both of his daughters yet?" Karen asked.

"Karen," Harry told her in a reproachful voice.

"It's a legitimate question," Karen offered to him defensively but she was grinning and Harry smiled. "No need to get….well actually just no need to upset."

"I'm not getting upset," Harry offered her, although there was a chance where he could be given the circumstances. He felt her warm clothed breasts press against his back. "I've got a meeting with Ororo tomorrow as well, to check in with her, haven't really talked to her since the Zod invasion."

"I'm sure that's going to be productive as usual," Karen told him in a voice that dripped with hints of what everyone knew was going on during those talks.

Harry smiled, productive sure was one way to describe how those meetings were going to go with Ororo.

"So I've got to go and check in with SHIELD, to make sure that everything is in order with our prisoners," Harry said Karen.

"Ah, we were just getting started," Karen said as she placed her arms underneath her breasts and achieved the desired effect of making them even larger than they were.

"We'll pick this up later," Harry informed Karen and he leaned towards her, offering a long kiss. The blonde returned the kiss and the two of them broke apart.

The next thing Karen knew, Harry was gone. He was about bad as Helena sometimes, actually he was a tiny bit worse.

Harry appeared outside of the secure SHIELD facility, bypassing all security check points because he was Harry Fucking Potter and that's kind of what he did.

He saw Natasha standing there, talking to a young woman who looked to be in her early twenties. She had long black hair that framed her face and an alluring set of green eyes. She wore a red top that stretched around her D Cup breasts that threatened to burst out of her top. The top rose up half of an inch to show the toned and tanned midsection that she had to offer. The tight black pants that went around her body was a visual treat as well as they showcased her ass.

"Harry, what do I owe the pleasure?" Natasha offered and she looked to the young female next to her. "Harry, this is Jessica Drew, Jessica Drew, this is Harry Potter."

"Pleased to meet you Harry, I've heard so much about you," Jessica told him with a hungry expression as if Harry was on the menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

'_Just as I heard and better,' _she thought to herself as she felt herself getting hot but she composed herself with dignity. A woman of her stature was nothing but dignified after all.

"A pleasure to meet you, Jessica," Harry commented to the dark haired woman and the look that she was giving him was not missed by Harry.

"Yes, it is," Jessica told him as she licked her lips at him but she turned around under the pretext of checking some notes.

'_Another one for the cult of Potter,' _Kitty said as she rubbed her hands and gave an evil laugh.

'_You do realize how much that makes you sound like a really bad comic book villain, don't you?' _Rachel asked in a dry voice.

Harry turned away from the budding banter and focused his attention on Natasha.

"So Brotherhood are secured?"

Natasha nodded. "It was not an easy task but we managed to do so."

"That's good," Harry offered to her. "I removed their powers, but I doubt that I need to tell Nick Fury that he should keep them secured with the normal protocols."

"No, you don't," Natasha agreed with them, Fury was so gloriously paranoid that he would use the emergency protocols even when not prompted.

"Good that he's prepared," Harry told her as he moved back. "Got to check up at something at RAO, we'll get together at the usual time."

"You better believe that we will," Natasha offered, hoping that a mission didn't come up, because she looked forward to these meetings, especially how intimate they got.

Harry wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into a lengthy kiss which she hungrily returned. This allowed Harry to move off into the other direction.

Jessica watched him leave and then discreetly got back to work.

Harry was back at RAO where he nearly ran into Lana or rather Lana almost ran into him, it was pretty hard to tell.

"Hey, Harry, sorry it's been a busy morning, plus the new intern from Gotham City University is coming in today," Lana told Harry and he smiled.

"I'm sure when she arrives, she'll fit right in here," Harry told her.

"Yes, she was recommended by some very credible people," Lana commented and the wizard watched her with a smile. "Also, the energy project will be launched. Mr. Stark and Mr. Richards have agreed to help beta-test it, in exchange for signing the contract."

The contract was a standard one, a confidentiality clause and also not to copy the technology in any way without his express permission. He figured that those two men would be able to test the technology to its fullest and offer their own unique input on it.

"Right, Lana, you're amazing, thank you," Harry offered to her and he grabbed her around the waist.

"You're in a good mood today," Lana commented as her red hair flowed around her face.

"Yes, I am," Harry agreed with her and he offered a slight smile towards her. "And about that lunch….how does Friday sound to you?"

"Friday sounds great, especially if you're buying," Lana told him in a teasing voice and Harry smiled towards her.

"It's more than great than," Harry told her as he gave her a kiss and knew that he had to make his way back to the school, one of the new teachers were about to make her way there.

Physical education and defensive training was an important thing on the field and it was something that Harry was going to emphasize above many other things. He showed up with a pop as Alison, Atlee, and Lorna were sitting around the break room, drinking sodas and hanging out.

"How are you three doing?" Harry asked.

"Fine," Alison commented. She had two shows coming up in a couple of weeks, but right now she was taking every opportunity that she could to unwind.

"Really good, I hope that we can get together for that lesson that you promised," Lorna told him.

"Tomorrow, I have some free time," Harry informed her and Lorna smiled.

"Looking forward to it," Lorna told him.

Harry decided to make his way to the office where he understood that his physical education teacher was waiting for him. Laura was taking care of the physical training currently, the only problem was that she tended to use the girls more as practice dummies when she was worked out, which was often. Thankfully he was able to heal their injuries and there was nothing permanent.

As always, Harry was greeted by the sight of a beautiful woman, as if he would hire any one else for a position in his school, a smile crossed his face.

The woman was in her very early twenties, maybe around twenty or twenty one or so. She had golden blonde hair, with dazzling blue eyes. Her face was that of an angel as well. She wore a white top that wrapped around her body and a black jacket. Her D-Cup breasts were about to burst through her top and her tight jeans wrapped around nice legs. She wore a pair of black boots which she was jiggling to the music.

"Mr. Potter, it's an honor to meet you," the woman offered as she got up and shook his hand.

Harry resisted the temptation to use his X-Ray vision to peak beneath the surface, although it was there, it would always be there for a beauty like her.

"My name is Dinah Lance, I'm here to apply for the physical education position," the woman told him.

"Well Miss Lance, I've taken a look at your qualifications and skills and I must say I'm very impressed."

Harry proceeded to go through the job interview although he figured that she was already hired the moment that she walked through the door. Her qualifications were that good, the fact that she was an attractive single woman was merely a bonus.

**To Be Continued in the Next Chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5: Venom Returns

**Chapter Five: Venom Returns.**

Harry's smile widened as he addressed the group of girls that was standing before him. Lorna, Alison, and Atlee showed up first. Kitty, Rogue, Kara, and Laura joining the party shortly after as well. Though the wizard kept his eyes on the athletic blonde woman who stood before him.

"So, you found someone to pick up the slack?" Laura asked, pleased with this development. Although she hoped that the new teacher would be able to keep up with these girls. She knocked them around in order to teach them a bit of a lesson. She was holding back a lot but their enemies wouldn't hold back at all. Harry encouraged it, so Laura would not feel too bad about taking these steps.

Some of the girls became more skilled fighters because of it, another reason why Laura did not feel too broken up about brutally knocking them around. That being said, she turned towards Harry, waiting for his response.

"Yes, Laura, I've found a physical education teacher and defense teacher. I can tell you that she's more than qualified. She's also adept at a multitude of fighting styles," Harry commented to her, he'd given Dinah a heads up of what was going on with the school before they left his office.

Given the circles she said her mother hang out in and she grew up around, it was nothing that really surprised her.

"Right, this is going to be just a session where I get to know your abilities, but first, I feel that a little sparring session is in order. I find that it gets everything nice and limber before we get to work," Dinah told them and then girls all nodded, they were not going to argue this point. She turned around and saw Laura standing there. "Laura, isn't it?"

"Yes," the young mutant with the codename of Talon stated as she closed her eyes and smiled.

"Would you like to volunteer?" Dinah asked.

Laura was amused at the daring of this woman but if Harry hand selected her, she could be a challenge. So she eagerly anticipated it.

Kara smiled, she had been knocked around by Laura a few times, so she was quite interested in seeing how this went. Plus, it allowed her to watch the new gym teacher in tight black spandex pants, the fact she was an incredibly gorgeous blonde as well only increasing her interest. If Harry did not add this one to his collective, she felt that he was losing his touch.

Funnily enough, Kitty and Rogue had similar thoughts in mind and they were far from alone.

Lorna watched alongside the other girls as Laura stepped up to the plate. She had only stopped by the visit the school, mostly for her lessons with Harry. Yet, there was a sense where Laura was someone that can more than hold her own in a fight and she was a bit intimidated by the girl who was the best in the world at what she did and looked much better than Wolverine at doing it.

"Sure, why not," Laura offered in a dismissive voice, trying to play it calm.

Although there was a feral part in her that hungered, that longed for, that sought a certain challenge. From what she'd been able to catch of this woman's scent, she could tell that she kept herself in good shape. She had amazing stamina and she could go the distance in many respects.

Those would be qualifies that would serve her well in a number of ways. That much Laura understood for sure. Regardless of that fact, she cracked her knuckles and prepared herself for battle. Her tight stomach inhaled and exhaled as she locked eyes onto the adversary in front of her.

"I'm ready to begin when you are," Dinah commented.

Laura smiled, then she pounced throwing a straight punch towards the blond woman's head with a growl. Dinah avoided her attack by side stepping it at the last moment then grabbing hold of Laura's arm she nailed her in the stomach with a hard punch that drove the air from her lungs, then proceeded to throw her hard to the mat. Laura hit the ground face first with a hard thud.

It didn't really hurt her, thanks to her pain tolerance training while under the tender mercy of Weapon X, there was precious little that could hurt Laura for long that she couldn't shrug off, but her pride, oh her pride had taken a beating. She managed to pull herself up to a standing position, holding onto her side and keeping her eyes locked fiercely onto the adversary before her.

"Okay, let's try that again," Laura commented with a growl. She was not about to be shown up, not in front of all of these other members of the Collective, whether they be future or present.

The dark haired woman braced herself and lunged herself at her enemy with an attack. In this case a viscous hay maker she put all of her weight behind. Once again, Dinah dodged the attack with swift precision by flipping over top of Laura's head then landing in a low crouch she swept the dark haired teen's legs out from under her causing her to once more go crashing hard to the ground. The golden haired woman stood to her feet letting out her breath evenly as she did.

"That wasn't bad, but the problem is that you're telegraphing your attacks and throwing too much of your anger into them," Dinah informed the dark haired mutant and Laura's head snapped up. "It's not a bad thing, not necessarily but it could lead to a lot of problems against a skilled opponent."

Laura folded her arms, she tried to keep her head up but she was struggling to do so. The young girl found her way back to her feet.

She took a deep breath, she was going to get this time, she could feel it.

Atlee was new to all of this so she turned to Kara with a question.

"So are things normally this exciting here?" Atlee asked Kara.

Kara smiled. "No, this is one of the slower days, actually."

Atlee smiled, something told her that she was going to enjoy her time in this world. Then again, she was just coming out of her shell and becoming a part of this world, a brand new one at that.

So the sky was going to be the limit for her.

Harry slipped off to one side, he had a meeting and he figured with Dinah there, she would be able to lead the class without any problems.

He made his way to his office, where the dark skinned beauty waited for him. Her arms hung from her sides.

"I do apologize for postponing the meeting last week," Ororo told Harry. "We're still feeling the burn from what happened."

"I think we all are," Harry offered her, he could tell that Ororo was frustrated that their regular meeting did not take place as scheduled. "Everything is fine at the school, Atlee and Lorna are settling in nicely."

"Oh, the two new students," Ororo commented with a smile. "I'm sure that many more females are quite willing to join you, especially from that academy of Emma's."

"Well many have expressed interest, yes," Harry told the woman as he decided to cut to the chase, as they made their way into his office. "It's all about building up the right amount of anticipation in their minds and then exceeding all those expectations."

"If nothing else, you exceed many expectations," Ororo commented to him.

"Careful, or my head won't be able to fit through the door," Harry warned her as the two of them sat down in his office. "How are things in Xavierland?"

"Actually much smoothly then you would guess," Ororo offered with a smile. "Scott's really been stepping it up as team leader as of late. I'm guessing the Apocalypse and Zod situation put a shock into him, and he's been trying to think outside the box."

"Well good for him," Harry offered, he didn't really spare a moment of time thinking about Scott Summers.

"He's even contradicting Charles a few times, which would have been unheard of previously," Ororo offered Harry and he smiled.

"Fascinating," Harry commented to the dark skinned beauty as he leaned back on the chair. This seemed a bit out of character for Summers but he supposed that things could change. "So, you're doing well, I take it?"

"Very well, thank you," Ororo told him. "And I've noticed that your company is about ready to overtake the company formerly known as OsCorp and Fisk Industries in the business rankings

Harry smiled, although he heard rumblings that OsCorp would be folded into LuthorCorp. With Norman Osborn currently a guest of Ravencroft and Harry Osborn in a SHIELD facility practically unresponsive after the symbiote, it left the path open for Luthor Junior and Senior to take control.

"Yes, I've been busy," Harry informed her with a smile.

Harry grabbed Ororo by the waist as both of them stood up. Now that business was out of the way, they could get onto the real reason for these meetings.

Harry pulled her into a long kiss, which she returned. Their tongues battling back and forth for dominance.

Ororo brought her arms against his waist, pulling him into her and he returned fire with a deep kiss of his own.

The real fun was about to begin.

**Smut/Lemon Begins.**

-PROFILE-

**Smut/Lemon Ends.**

* * *

Eddie Brock waited with eager anticipation, it had been a long nine month period since he was put in Ravencroft. It was nearly up to ten months but that was beside the point. The point was that he was nearly free and he would return back into civilization. His therapy had gone well along with his rehabilitation. The disgraced photographer turned his head off to one side and to the other as he lifted weights, he was off the juice as well and had been able to more or less build himself back up to what he'd been in his prime before he started. He wanted to keep his body busy, along with his mind.

"Good day, Mr. Brock."

Eddie looked up and saw a weedy looking man standing there in the shadows. He had slimy black hair and wore a thick pair of spectacles.

"Doctor Hamilton," Brock told him and the man in front of him nodded. "Is it the fifteenth already?"

"Yes, Edward, it is," Barton Hamilton, the head psychiatrist at Ravencroft, commented as he placed his hands on the edge of the door to his cell.

Thankfully Brock's cell mate was asleep, which was a good thing. His cell mate was the type of person who would try to kill a person with a rusty bed spring just because he looked at him cross eyed. Or because he thought it would be fun. Mostly because he thought it would be fun.

"So, I guess that's it, doc," Brock offered as he let out the long and lengthy whistle.

"Indeed, Edward, indeed," Hamilton commented. Brock's eyes were wide with anticipation and he was trying not to seem too anxious. The last thing that he wanted was for his hopes to be dashed.

"Well, you're giddier than a school girl," his cell mate stated with a mocking laugh. "Oh, you'd be a lot safer in here than you're out there, you're going to be amongst the sheep. They're like little lambs man! Being lead off to the slaughter."

The man had wild red hair and he rocked back and forth like the crazed lunatic that he was. His teeth spread into a wide smile that got even wilder.

"Mr. Kassady, perhaps one day if you work hard, you can be free as well," Hamilton offered to him with a smile on his face but the crazed man responded to that by offering another loud round of mocking laughter.

"Man! None of us are truly free! None of us are! We're just cogs in the system, big brother out there manipulates all of us! He told me the truth man! He looked into my eyes one day and set me free! He'll set all of us free one day! You'll see," Kassady stated as he stepped forward but an ankle bracelet gave him a shock which put him back in line.

"You were warned about such behavior, Cletus," Hamilton told him as Kassady gave Hamilton a death glare. If the precautions were not taken then he would have run amuck on everyone.

Kassady sank back onto his bed to stare up at the ceiling. A poster of a pale faced man with wild green hair with a permanent rictus grin dressed in a purple suit was put up over his bed.

Hamilton was always interested in the crazed criminal element, mostly those criminals who went up against Spider-Man. The Web Slinger had a colorful gallery of enemies, some of which fell into those gimmicks thanks to them running afoul of the Web Head when they were mundane and petty thieves.

Hamilton was interested in learning what made Spider-Man tick but there was one members of his rogue's gallery that he was extremely interested in having a word with. It was unfortunate that he had been denied all access to Mr. Osborn, although Osborn was not mentally able to respond to much after the fiasco a few weeks ago.

"Well, Eddie, I have to congratulate you on your progress," Hamilton stated as he walked forward with the young man. "All of the tests, physical and mental came back positive."

"As long as Venom doesn't come back into the picture, Eddie Brock should have a very productive life," Hamilton stated as he extended his hands with the papers that indicated Brock's clean bill of health. "Remember, you're on probation for the next year, if you step one toe out of line…."

"I know, I don't want to cause any trouble," Brock told Hamilton.

"I'm just ready to get back to a normal life, without my other getting involved," Eddie commented.

Eddie smiled, he was ready for the rest of his life, it started tonight.

He walked out of Ravencroft, knowing now that he was a free man. He made his way to a car where the one and only Vince Brayman was waiting.

"Eddie! Baby! It's good to see that you're back!" Brayman yelled. "I tell you what! I! Vince Brayman! Am going to make you bigger than ever before, even though that Venom act, that stuffed things up a lot for you. But! The sky is the limit for Eddie Brock and Vince Brayman. I tell you want baby, it's going to be all about you, and we're going straight to…."

"I don't want anything to do with your type of grandstanding, Brayman," Brock told him with a gruff tone to his voice as he grabbed the man and shoved him off. The only thing that man was good for was bounced checks and it was borderline difficult at best to get him on the telephone.

"Hey, listen here! Brock! I don't know if you remember, but I took you from the sewers and made you the man that you are today," Brayman said in a furious voice, looking like an overgrown cartoon character in the process as he tried to stare down Brock,

"I know what you did, Brayman," Brock said to the man.

Brock knew how this man's actions nearly brought him down. He was not about to give into temptation ever again, Eddie Brock was a proud man, he was going to stand tall, and he was going to do the right thing, no matter how it felt.

"You don't know what I can do for you! I can make you bigger than ever before or I could ruin your life," Brayman said to Brock but the man grabbed Brayman by the tie. "Hey, hands off! You monkey, or I'll call my lawyers. And you'll be locked back up in the nuthouse with all of the other freaks for the rest of your life."

Brock relaxed his grip.

"You ain't worth it," Brock growled and Brayman said something to him.

"You ain't worth much either Brock! You ain't worth shit! You're nothing but a third rate photographer, do you think Jameson or anyone else is going to give you a job?" Brayman asked.

Brock turned around and his eyes dilated, with the pupils going a rather alien black.

"Whoa there, Eddie, I didn't mean…."

"You're barking up the wrong tree now, bitch," Brock growled as he grabbed Brayman around the neck and hoisted him up off the ground.

"Hey, Brock, remember, I can put you back in the nuthouse! You work for me! I made you! I made you! LISTEN HERE BITCH I MADE…."

Brock plowed Brayman into the closest garbage can and put the lid on it.

"You didn't make us!" Brock growled as his voice echoed. He kicked the garbage can with Brayman in it and caused it to roll down a hill. "WE MADE US!"

Brock turned around and the ringing in his head grew more prominent.

'_Did you think that we would forsaken you Eddie?' _the voice asked. _'No, together we are one, together, we are back. WE ARE VENOM!'_

A man in the shadows watched all of this transpire before him from his office window with a smug smile across his face.

"The experiment is going well," Hamilton stated after he dialed up his mysterious contact on the phone.

"And the funds will be transferred into your account as promised, Doctor Hamilton," the sleek and sinister voice said. He was interested in the Symbiote which is why he managed to obtain enough strands to replicate it and when the time was right, Hamilton arranged for Brock to be infected once more.

Venom would return, but the Symbiote was about ready to spawn something far more dangerous.

* * *

"So, these guys are from Gotham City, right?" Spider-Man asked as he swung across the buildings as Harry flew next to him.

The hero dropped down to the ground and heard the loud screams.

"Yes," Harry told him simply as he held his hands up. The shattered glass from the door was scattered all over the ground and he saw Spider-Man swinging back and forth on a web line.

"Yeah, that's about right," Spider-Man commented as he turned around. He didn't want to say anything, but Gotham City was a place that he did not want to visit. Not because of the crime, but because it was in New Jersey and far too close to those douchebags on the Shore for his liking. The Web Slinger thought that New York was insane but the insanity in the city did not compare to that of Gotham.

The Web Slinger dropped to the ground and he brought in a breath then let it out slowly. He held his head up to look at them.

'_Well, there's all sorts….is that a person in a pig mask?' _Spider-Man thought as he let out a long sigh and reminded himself of one thing._ 'Yeah, I know, Gotham City, but the point still stands, it really does stand, there's a lot of insanity out there.'_

A large man, at least everyone assumed it was a man, stood there before them, holding a large bone saw in his hand. He was dressed in a blue suit with a blue overcoat over top it, both of a Victorian make. The more particular thing about him was a pig mask that covered his face.

His companion was even more insane looking. He wore a hat over his head, along with a nice stylish suit, looking like an old time Englishman. He had a monocle that was stuck in his eye and he turned around to face a group of women who backed off.

He was also a toad with a British accent.

"I say! Roderick Kingsley has committed crimes against the animal community," the pig man stated as he stepped towards them.

"Not to mention your crimes against fashion," the toad man stated as he looked them over and shook his head, making a tutting sound. They made worse fashion choices than his ex-wife, Dolores. Gods, all of that pink. "Ghastly, absolutely ghastly."

"Well, you're fashion sense isn't much better, you know?"

The two criminals turned around and saw the Web Slinger swinging in through an open window.

"You have no room whatsoever to talk, my friend," the toad scoffed as he got a good look at what the Web Head was wearing.

"And just who are you supposed to be?" the pig man asked.

"You must be new, because I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man," the web head commented, taking a bow.

"Professor Pyg, at your service, and this is my assistant, Mr. Toad," Pyg stated as the toad with the monocle nodded his head.

"Charmed," Mr. Toad commented dryly as he watched Spider-Man.

"Yeah, well that's up for a lot of debate," Spider-Man commented as he stood to face the two of them.

"Mr. Toad, won't you greet our clever friend properly?" Professor Pyg said as he turned around. "He appears to have a mental issue where he disrespects his elders. Surely corrective therapy is needed."

"Naturally," Mr. Toad commented with a smile as he opened his mouth wide and a sonic blast from his mouth impacted the chest of the Web Slinger.

There was a huge bang as Spider-Man was sent flying by the blast. The Web Slinger latched onto a nearby chair with his web line in hopes of breaking his momentum.

'_Arcane, you were right behind me, why aren't you right here?' _Spider-Man asked as he dodged an attempt by one of his opponents to drill him in the head with a drill. Thankfully his Spider sense clued him in on that one.

"Come on and play," Mr. Toad stated as he opened his mouth and let out another sonic blast.

"Bad breath and loud, that's not a good combination," Spider-Man said as he webbed his mouth shut.

"I do hope that that's non-toxic," Professor Pyg stated as he rushed forward and knocked Spider-Man to the ground with a huge roundhouse right.

For a guy in a pig mask, he packed a punch.

Arcane sped all of the hostages out of the way while Spider-Man was playing tag with the toad and the pig. The two of them were determined to take him out and potentially dissect him later.

"My health insurance play doesn't cover something like that!" Spider-Man yelled as he dodged the bone saw that nearly sliced into him.

"A pity, guess you're going to have to pay out of pocket," Professor Pyg stated as he tried to nail Spider-Man with a surgical saw but the web head dodged it. Again and again, but the arachnid themed hero was one step ahead of him.

Arcane used his heat vision to cause the tool to melt in his hand. This allowed Spider-Man to wrap his web lining around him.

"Oh, you think you're so clever, don't you?" Mr. Toad asked as he opened his mouth, having removed the webbing from it and tried to deliver another sonic attack.

Harry put up a wall which reflected it causing the energy blast to knock him back.

"So….did we win?" Spider-Man asked but Professor Pyg pulled out a really huge needle.

"Time to put you under, boy," Pyg stated as he tried to jam Spider-Man with the needle.

A flying baterang nailed him in the hand as a dark figure dropped down to the ground.

'_Well, Batwoman, who would have thought it?' _Harry asked with a smile and he made note of her quick movements as she moved forwards to try and take out her enemy.

Helena Wayne trained herself to think multiple steps ahead of an enemy. She needed to keep ahead of them no matter what. She flipped up over the head of the enemy as he tried to stab her with the same needle that he previously tried to attack Spider-Man with.

She nailed him with a series of punches to the face and followed it up with a roundhouse kick which took him down.

Pyg knocked out and hog tied in no time flat after that.

"We could have taken care of that," Arcane told Batwoman who shrugged.

"It's like looking into some kind of weird fun-house mirror, only with sexual tension," Peter commented and then he got two really dangerous death glares. "That only proves my point, but yeah I'll shut up now."

"You could have, but I tracked them all the way from Gotham City, although one of your problems has affected the city," Helena told him and Peter was surprised.

"What do you mean one my problems?" the Web Slinger asked, curiosity dripping into his voice.

Helena was only too happy to inform him. "The Master Planner's Gang, they made their way into Gotham City. They've set up shop for the long term as well."

Spider-Man offered a prominent whistle, of course they had. It had been nearly a year since the Master Planner had started although the web head was no closer in figuring out the master plan of the Master Planner now then he was when he started over a year ago.

"I saw Pyg and Toad, figured that I'd bring them in," Batwoman concluded.

Arcane smiled, she had not disclosed her identity with him, at least not officially. However, they both knew that Harry knew, Harry knew a lot.

"Spider-Man, thank you!"

There was a loud rumbling sound outside that caused Spider-Man to run out of the room. He wondered why he was being thanked and sure enough, he found out soon enough.

'_Oh no,' _the web slinger thought as the man known as Venom showed up.

Two crooks nearly smothered in webbing were hanging upside down from a nearby lamp post.

Harry turned up, with a frown. He figured that something like this would have happened, ever since he heard that Eddie Brock was let out of Ravencroft a week ago.

"What are you doing Brock?" Spider-Man asked.

"That man saved me!" one of the women yelled.

There were nods of agreement from the nearby bystanders who had witnessed the event taking place.

"Just being a better Spider-Man than you can be, Web Head!" Venom yelled. "What's the matter, are you jealous of us?"

'_Jealous no, suspicious, yes,' _Spider-man thought as he turned towards him.

"What's your game?"

Venom turned around to face the person who asked that question and found himself face to face with Lois Lane, who always seemed to be there when trouble was about to occur. Hell half the time she seemed to be responsible for it starting in the first place.

"Lois! Good to see you again, yeah, I know we got off to a bad start last time, but I forgive you for what you did!" Venom said as he held out a hand to show that there was no hard feelings. Lois didn't take the bait. "Well, you need to know, there is a new hero in town, and the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, Spider-Man, the X-Men, Arcane and his little group, and everyone else better move aside because we are here, and we are Venom!"

Venom did this weird shuffling dance from one foot to another like he was a boxer while rolling his shoulders and then swung off without another word.

Harry was suspicious, well to be fair Harry was always suspicious, but he didn't think that Brock could make this much of a turnaround this soon. He knew that he was too much of an ego to do the hero thing for all of the right reasons.

"So, maybe he's changed?" Spider-Man whispered and Arcane gave him a look which caused him to shudder. "And maybe I'm an idiot for falling for that."

Harry didn't say anything, he'd sooner wait to see how this all played out.

* * *

Eddie Brock was getting a fair amount of publicity for the fact that he saved a group of people from what appeared to be the Master Planner's gang. There were a lot of people who ate up the story of someone turning over a new leaf.

There was one man who did not buy it however.

"Ha, Brock, that's a good one, useful good for nothing, if he isn't in this for the glory and to show up that wall crawling reprobate, I'll eat my hat!"

Lois who was standing outside of the office, overheard that remark. Then again, if she was standing in China, she'd be able to overhear Jameson making that remark. She responded with a quip. "I'd pay to see that."

Jameson acting like he didn't hear her or maybe he did, it was hard to tell. "What was that, Lane?"

Lois straightened up immediately, it was time to get serious and quite frankly more business like. The reporter turned to Jameson, half of a smile etched on her face. "Well, sir, maybe Brock has…."

"I know what you're going to say, Lane, and you know you that don't believe it any more than I don't believe it," Jameson said to her as he slammed his fist down on the desk. "And tell Parker when he gets in here, that he's fired."

"Technically you already fired Peter, two days ago, when he failed to get you pictures, pictures of Spider-Man," Betty commented dryly as she was passing by.

Jameson managed to recover rather quickly after hearing this and he swallowed the lump in his throat. "Well, get Parker in here and re-hire him! Because I need pictures, pictures of Spider-Man."

"What did you need again?" Betty asked. Neither her nor Lois was going to say that he lacked the authority to fire Peter due to Harry being able to override him.

"DAMN IT, I NEED PICTURES OF SPIDER-MAN!" Jameson bellowed and Betty smiled at that with a nod.

"One would think that he had a stalker obsession with the Web Slinger," Lois offered with a smile, there was amusement that was dancing through her eyes.

"Yes, Lois, one would think that?"

Lois gave out a startled yelp then turned and saw Harry standing there. She tried to remain dignified, although given that it was Lois Lane, she was not doing a good job at it.

"Hi, Betty," Harry said to the other woman standing there, more or less staring at him from where she stood next to Lois.

Betty shook her head, the tight leather pants that Harry was wearing today was distracting her but Betty managed to come back out of dream land. She took in a deep breath and then let another breath out. "Harry, how are you doing?"

"Just checking up on business," Harry said and then he turned to both of the females. "So has Brock come by here yet?"

Lois shook her head. "No, you'd figure that since he has the suit back, he'd be out for revenge."

"Well, Spider-Man is at the top of the revenge list, as you are," Harry told Lois and she threw her hands into the air, while her shaking her head.

"Brock told me that he forgave me for what I did," Lois offered as she threw her head back in exasperation. "Can you believe that?"

"With Brock, you'd be surprised what I could believe," Harry remarked dryly as he brought his hands up to the top of his head but then dropped them down to his side. He was beginning to get a headache from trying to figure out the motivations of everyone he had to deal with.

"Yeah, that's true, Brock seems to think that what happened to him, is somehow my fault," Lois offered as she gritted in teeth with a pained grimace. "I would ask you if you could believe that, but I think it's been established that there's very little that you don't believe."

"Yes, I've seen a lot," Harry said to her.

'_Yeah, I know you have,' _Lois offered with a frustrated thought to herself. She did wish that Harry would admit who he was, so she didn't have to admit that she was fooled all of this time. She refused to think that she was not stubborn enough to allow Harry to get the better of her._ 'You know, we can play this game for months, Potter, and I'm going to be the winner.'_

Harry smiled, he could sense all of these thoughts. Betty could sense that Harry and Lois were going to have a moment so she found an excuse to make an exit to get some work done.

"So, I've got a few files that I need to collect, Mr. Jameson is going to have a kitten if I don't find them soon," Betty told him and Harry nodded.

"Right, talk to you later, Betty," Harry offered her with a smile.

It was the type of smile that caused women to lose all semblance of what she was doing.

"Hey, Iris, what's the rush?" Harry asked as he saw Iris heading off at the speed of light.

"The Master Planner and his gang, they knocked off a huge shipment of tech," Iris commented as she closed her eyes. She had been no closer to figuring out who the Master Planner was and what his Master Plan than anyone else.

She had been no closer to figuring out who the Master Planner was and what his Master Plan was more so than anyone else.

Harry was interested in this information, because the last three times that the Master Planner's gang had been seen, Venom had been there as well. There was a lot of things that was clicking into place within Harry's mind. He was starting to figure out what Brock's game was.

The symbiote, out of some kind demented, disturbing rationalization, had tried to do what it could to make Peter jealous. Now the symbiote was doing what it thought would allow it to be a better Spider-Man and that could end badly.

Harry made his way outside of the Bugle after saying a quick goodbye to Lois. He caught Spider-Man hanging upside down from a light post across the street and the web head turned towards him fully.

"Any luck?"

Harry smiled. "Well Jonah wants you to take more pictures, pictures of Spider-Man. But it depends on what you would consider to be luck."

"Oh, that's an ominous statement," Spider-Man commented and Harry held up the details of the shipment that the Master Planner stole.

The statement was obvious, find them, and find Venom.

'_Gwen, are you there?' _Harry asked to her.

'_Yes, Harry, can I help you?' _Gwen asked him with a smile on her face.

'_I need you to run a quick check for me,' _Harry thought and Gwen was able to do so when Harry fed her the details of the shipment. _'Horizon Labs, 10:00 PM Shipment, Project Q.'_

Gwen ran the search for him and fed him all of the information that she could.

That was more than enough for Harry to get what he wanted, and he turned to Spider-Man, who dropped down from the light post.

"We have him."

* * *

The Web Slinger made his way outside of the warehouse, with Arcane making his way forwards behind him. The two of them kept walking forward, and the web slinger looked over his shoulder. He offered Harry the one statement that had quite frankly been on Harry's mind.

"Why does it feel like we're blundering into a trap of some sort?" Spider-Man asked to him. Harry looked over his shoulder and the web head hastily amended. "Other than the fact it seems like I've been hanging around you a bit too much for my mental health that is."

"Because, it is a trap," Harry told him. "And…."

Spider-Man was quickly able to jump in with some words of his own. "Yeah, I know, if it smells like a trap, then it's pretty likely that it is a trap. You know, I wasn't bitten by the spider and made into the dashing super hero you love yesterday."

Harry actually wasn't going to say that but there was something about this, something that gravely unsettled him. Perhaps he was being paranoid, okay, he was being paranoid, but that seemed to be his default state these days.

"Is there room for one more?"

"Venom at twelve o'clock!" Spider-Man yelled at Harry as Venom dropped down, doing his trademark wacky dance as he shuffled from one side to the other. His tongue and teeth were shown as he stared them down.

"Yes, so I see," Harry offered to him.

"Well, what a revolting development this is," Spider-Man commented.

"Ben might have something to say to you for using that. Pretty sure he has it trademark alongside it's clobbering time," Harry offered before their full attention was turned to Venom.

"This is my beat, Spider-Man, I saw them first," Venom growled as he turned to the web head as he raised his hand looking ready to attack.

"Hey, you can't call super villains! That's just not how it's done," Spider-Man offered as he dodged Venom's fist. He was about ready to plow the Web Slinger into the ground.

"Well, I'm changing things up, I trust you don't have a problem with that," Venom growled.

Harry looked over his shoulder as he heard the pitter patter of gang members with super high tech weapons. "Guys, continue the dick waving contest later, we've got company."

The Master Planner's gang showed up and they were the typical high tech thugs that were armed to the teeth with weapons that were beyond this world or any other. It was even beyond military grade which showed why the police had been powerless against them. Venom looked excited as he stared his enemies down and his tongue went from one side to the other obscenely as he licked his lips.

"It's party time! Beeyotches!" Venom growled as he prepared to take down his enemies.

"I always offer better quality quipage than that," Spider-Man stated with a pained tone to his voice. Unable to believe that Venom had besmirched his good name. Then again, perhaps he should believe that. Never the less, the Web Slinger was on the attack, snapping his web lines at his enemies. "Okay! Boys! it's time to wrap up this party up!"

Venom shook his head. "Better quality my slimy ass! That was disgraceful."

Venom sent two large cannonballs worth of webbing at the thugs sending them flying like bowling pins.

"Strike! Now, that's a big bang!" Venom yelled.

Harry closed his eyes, the bad jokes were starting to get to him.

"Yeah, not bad, but mine's better," Spider-Man offered as he webbed the feet of two thugs then yanked hard sending them flipping backwards. "Sorry boys! But I guess you're in a sticky situation!"

Harry groaned, at this rate, the thugs were going to commit suicide thanks to the overload of bad puns. Venom moved in as Harry took out the cannons with a super powerful punch and then detonated some miniature explosions that he slipped beneath their feet.

It would not blow their limbs off but said explosives made things not conductive to running away since they detonated with enough force to shatter most of the bones in their legs.

"Gotcha!" Venom yelled.

Harry noticed a group of very familiar figures advancing on them threateningly after the Master Planner gang had been dispensed with.

The Vertigo effect one of this groups powers utilized caused Spider-Man and Venom to collapse to the ground.

"Oh, we're going to hurl!" Venom moaned as he tried to push himself back up but he smashed his head onto the ground.

"You, we, what about me? Spider-Man thought as he could barely lift up his web shooters to attack his enemies.

Harry was hovering above the range of the Vertigo effect, seeing this Vertigo scowled and turned to Blockbuster.

"Distract him," Vertigo told Blockbuster.

Blockbuster grunted, he had very few brain cells and Harry mused that he was going to have even fewer once Harry got his hands around his large head.

However, much to Harry's surprise, Blockbuster split apart into two. Harry punched Blockbuster in the face and then Blockbuster split into two again.

'_Okay, this is new. Looks like Sinister got his hands on some of Jaimes DNA,' _Harry thought, and it was not new in the good way.

"Is my head splitting or am I seeing double?" Spider-Man asked as one of the Blockbusters rushed forward and punted Spider-Man like a soccer ball. "Ow, my kidneys!"

The Web Head crashed against the wall where he landed with a sickening thud. The Web Slinger rolled over as he started to breath in and out heavily.

Spider-Man tried to sit up, twice, before he finally gave up the ghost and collapsed down to the ground.

Harry meanwhile knew that the Blockbusters were going to keep coming at him. It was like Multiple's powers, but they were far worse, Maddox couldn't hit you with the force of a speeding truck. He could play that game as well but there would be more Harry's hitting more Blockbusters.

Venom was down on the ground and a hand grabbed a piece of his suit.

"Come on!" Harry yelled to Blockbuster as he waved the giant of a man on. "COME ON!"

Harry had a theory but first he had to verify it. And Blockbuster was stupid enough to go along with it, so Harry had to lure him on. He did have a few brain cells so he had to control this matter. The wizard stepped back another step.

Venom was down on the ground and a hand grabbed a piece of his suit.

"Hey! No! That's a bad touch!' Venom yelled as he felt a sharp tool pinch him in a very sensitive area.

"We have what we need, prepare to evacuate."

Spider-Man was too busy trying to keep down the wheat cakes that Aunt May made him, so he did not make much out of that statement at the time he heard it.

Harry, on the other hand, made a lot out of that statement. His ears were ringing as he tried to keep his head above water.

Blockbuster smashed himself and sure enough, when Blockbuster hit himself, he combined back into one entity.

Harry smiled as he flicked his wrist.

A reflection spell caused multiple illusionary copies of Harry to appear in between ever set of Blockbuster's. So obviously Blockbuster tried to punch them.

Then there was one, and Harry froze that one with a healthy jet of ice breath. The largest member of the Marauders crashed to the ground.

The others were gone.

"Those bastards took a part of us, we feel violated!" Venom howled in a rage.

'_Oh boy, that can't be good,' _Harry thought, but Sinister and the Marauders was long gone.

And so was Venom, which made this entire mission one big headache. At least the Master Planner's gang was taken out, although Harry wondered about the ramifications of them being active in Gotham City after all that they'd done.

Spider-Man staggered up to his feet.

"Are you..."

"I'm okay, other than my head about being ready to explode and bruised kidneys so I'll be peeing blood for a week, but other than that, just peachy keen," Spider-Man offered.

"If Sinister has the symbiote…."

"Yeah, I know, doomsday," Spider-Man offered as he sobered up.

The work of a hero was never done.

* * *

If there was something that Nathaniel Essex was interested by, that was a new form of life that he could exploit.

The symbiote was primed for replication, in fact, it had fed off enough bio-energy from its four hosts, and perhaps several others before them that would allow it to do so. Essex closed his eyes as he poked and prodded it.

He injected two further strains of DNA.

The first strain of DNA was the one that he received from the Star Child all of those months back.

The second strain of DNA was the one that he received from Gwen Stacy. Her DNA was already unique before the Extremis formula altered it. Now, Essex was intrigued by what would happen when the DNA was combined with the symbiote. His initial simulations indicated that Miss Stacy's DNA was in perfect harmony with the symbiote.

After Essex injected the two DNA strands into the sample of symbiote that his men had taken from Brock. It turned into a red mess of what seemed to be living liquid blood.

The host could easily drain the energy out of anything that he touched.

Essex had Eddie Brock's medical records and also which cell he stayed in at Ravencroft. A wicked smile crossed over his face.

'_I have a plan,' _Essex thought to himself.

Then again, someone like Sinister, he always had a plan and it was always a devious one at that one. He was going to unleash this new symbiote with a disturbed host. He picked up the phone.

"Hamilton, I need to arrange for you to bring me a patient from Ravencroft….I'm sure he'll be very valuable for the experiment that we discussed earlier."

**To Be Continued In the Next Arc, "The Coming of Carnage."**


	6. Chapter 6: Carnage Part One

**Chapter Six: The Coming of Carnage Part One.**

"It's all about control and emotions and reigning them in."

Lorna closed her eyes with Harry placed his hands on the waist of the young mutant. They were going through one of their lessons. Harry figured that he needed to go on with the business like usual even though there was something hanging over his head. The symbiote disappeared and while he had scoped out a few of Sinister's known locations, he found nothing. That showed Harry that Sinister moved there.

"Right, emotions, control, got it," Lorna breathed. The truth was that there were instances where she got upset and therefore the pieces of metal rattled in the air in a haphazard manner.

"You can do it, I have faith in you," Harry whispered in her ear and Lorna nodded as she lifted her hand.

The metal around her started to rattle back and forth. The young mutant felt Harry's hands guide her, giving her direction to where she could go. She slowly manipulated the pieces of metal the best that she could.

"You're doing well, but putting too much power into that one, dial it back a little bit," Harry whispered to Lorna and Lorna nodded.

"Like this?" Lorna asked him and Harry nodded with a smile going across his face.

"Yes, like that, exactly like that," Harry told the woman and the sigh escaped her lips.

She was finally figuring out how to control the manipulation of the metal and it rattled together. The young woman closed her eyes and bit down on her lip. There was a deep breath that passed through her body as she rocked the pieces of metal back and forth, causing them to clang together.

It was all about control and focus.

Lorna waved her hand with the woman pushing her hand back and the metal kept rattling together. Her heart beat against her chest.

"And that's good, excellent even," Harry said and Lorna smiled.

"Glad you approve," Lorna answered as the metal moved around and she manipulated skillfully.

She could not help it, but there was a smile that was on her face. Then again, why shouldn't she smile? She was working with one of the best teachers in the world. The young woman held her hand up into the air and Harry held her behind her back.

"Okay, I'm going to check with other people, but you're doing great," Harry said to her and the mutant nodded.

Harry made his way down the hallway and he saw Atlee who was trying to concentrate in the room. She was moving mountains, although she had to keep them steady and not allow them to crumble. She could always use a refresher course for her powers.

The mountains crumbled and Harry smiled as he stepped forward. The woman raised an eyebrow with Harry grabbing her by the hands.

"Uh, hey, Professor Potter," Atlee stammered in a shy voice as she bit down on her lip.

"Hey, Atlee, you're doing well, you just need a bit more confidence," Harry commented to the dark haired woman and he steadied her by the arm.

"Oh do I?" Atlee asked, she was about nervous. There was a few butterflies that flapped in her stomach when she was that up close and personal with Harry. She had to keep it cool, just like Karen said, imagine that Harry was in his underwear.

Atlee found herself imagining Harry in far less and she gave a small squeak at the thought of it but Harry grabbed her around the hand.

"Focus, just focus," Harry warned her.

Atlee felt his hands on her shoulders which was not conductive with focusing. The woman's knees bent down and she held her hand.

Suddenly, Atlee shook the ground beneath him and there were mountains that crumbled out from behind the ground.

She felt her heart pump a bit more steadily. She was trying to keep herself calm, even though her heart was drumming against her and she swayed herself back and forth. The young woman was grabbed around the shoulders and steadied. Her shoulders were grabbed and Harry offered a smile to her.

"Okay, focus, you can do this," Harry breathed in her ear.

"Yeah, I can," Atlee agreed , feeling the warm breath going in her ear and she closed her eyes. There was a few seconds where she paused and finally got her mind together.

There was a sense where she was there and a sense of what she had to do.

Atlee raised her hand and once again caused everything to rock around her. There was a huge rounds of rock mountains and Atlee waved her hand to cause them to rise up. She bent her knee and Atlee pushed back against the wall. The woman watched the progress and Harry watched her watching the progress, smiling at it.

"Excellent, you've done great," Harry told her in an appraising tone of voice.

"I'm glad," Atlee said in relief and Harry hugged her from behind.

This was an action that caused Atlee's mind to go haywire.

Harry smiled as he heard a buzzer going off, indicated that he had a guest and knowing the properties around the school, it was the female variety.

"Upper deck level," Harry ordered the device.

The device ported him up to the upper deck level, his eyes glowing as he made his way there.

Harry was greeted by Gwen standing there, but her guest was there as well. She had long red hair that flowed down her back with a ponytail. She had a tight black top that showed off her wonderful breasts, with a dipping of cleavage. She wore tight black shorts on as well.

"Hey, Harry, it's good to see you," Mary Jane greeted as she threw her arms around Harry.

"Hey, tigress," Harry told her and Mary Jane smiled despite that, as they had a long kiss.

Mary Jane grinned as she scooted her way onto Harry's lap. Gwen took the other chair opposite of him.

"It's been a long time since we've been able to get together but with all of the insanity in our lives, it's kind of hard, isn't it?" Mary Jane asked.

"It's been five days," Gwen said as she rolled her eyes.

"Like I said...too long," Mary Jane retorted with a grin.

The alien invasion a couple of months ago was an insane moment of their lives.

"So how are you doing?" Harry asked to her. "Did you get into the college that you…."

"Yes, I did," Mary Jane answered as she straddled him, placing her hands on his shoulders. Her bare legs brushed against his and her soft skin was amazing on his. He was able to see down her top at her wonderful cleavage. "Thanks to you, thanks to you."

"Glad to help," Harry commented but he smiled. He wrapped her arms around him. "Although I was just going to put in the good word, really there's nothing more than that."

"But your word carries a lot of weight," Mary Jane protested as she flipped her hair from her face. "And you deserve the proper thanks."

She kissed Harry.

Gwen smiled, she allowed Mary Jane to have her moment with Harry. She would get her turn soon enough whenever Mary Jane wanted to tag out.

"Oh, you're ready, great," Mary Jane cooed with a wicked grin as she reached her hand down Harry's trousers and clenched him.

There was a smile as she started to stroke him and the games began.

**Smut/Lemon Begins.**

-PROFILE-

**Smut/Lemon Ends.**

* * *

Nathaniel Essex was someone who was not about to go through with an experiment without copious amounts of planning. That was what he did, he planned everything, to the letter, to a disturbing amount.

Right now, he saw his latest lab rat was on the other side of a plexiglass cage. Essex's mouth twisted into a wicked grin as he placed his hand on the other side of the glass.

"Do not fret, soon you will be one," Sinister breathed as he saw the red mass that tried to push its way through the glass case.

Thump.

Thump.

The thumps got even louder as Sinister's grin got even more twisted. He waited for the next move and saw his men wheel the other half of the test in.

He saw before him a man with red hair, wild and twisted. His grin was even more so, to the point where it looked to be almost a part of his face.

Essex saw a twisted heap of diseased humanity, the worst of it all. He saw the monstrous and infamous killer known as Cletus Kassady.

A twisted part of him saw something else and that was potential. Potential that was doomed and dangerous yes, but potential never the less. The fingered claws of the Sinister scientist raised up as he watched his subject. There was one word that uttered his lips that no one ever had stated regarding Kassady.

"Beautiful."

The name Cletus brought forth images of one that was unrefined, a slack jawed yokel even, but yet with the suit, he would be the perfect test run. He had mutants that he wished to wipe out, genetic accidents that polluted the gene pool and genetic accidents that would be something that Sinister would endeavor to correct in due time.

That was the statement that resounded through his head, in due time.

"Prepare for bonding," Essex said as he eagerly anticipated what would happen next. Actually he was going into territories that was even unfamiliar for the Sinister scientist. There was something in the back of his mind that indicated that he was coming very close to playing god, to some level. Then again, that was a fact that excited him as well. His eyes glowed with malice as he kept working forward.

The tube was injected into Kassady.

This new symbiote would be far more powerful than the last one and it would lead to a superior being, even though the host body was not superior.

There was always a chance that the symbiote could even devour the host body, but Sinister took a few minutes to entertain that delightful possibility. His lips curled with a sadistic grin as he watched more of the ooze pump into the body of his adversary.

The heart was beating even more intensely as the necessary changes were made.

The eyes of Kassady opened and then the red goo snaked around his body. It hardened around him, making a suit around him.

"Do not struggle, the suit may determine that you are a threat, therefore you could be devoured," Sinister breathed in excitement as he saw his test subject, his lab rat for a lack of a better term being contracted in the cacoon of a suit.

Kassady felt new thoughts infused with his mind. His mind was being opened up to a new maelstrom of possibilities to relieve people of the troublesome process that was life.

Gleeful thoughts of murder danced in his head and his grin got even wider. He was about ready to kill someone. He mentally imagined his hands wrapping around the throat of all of those doctors at Ravencroft. Those were some bitches that needed to die and yesterday.

"I feel hungry, hungry for mayhem."

Essex made a mental note that the suit's new wearer did not refer to himself in a plural form. That was an interesting side effect.

"I FEEL HUNGRY!" the host of the suit screamed as he tried to break himself free from the restraints, his eyes bulging out in a completely crazed manner.

"Yes, I can see that," Essex commented with a sinister smirk spreading over his face. "I can feel your hunger, I can feel your anger, I can feel everything that you can feel, you know."

"Yes, hunger, hunger, hunger," he growled at the top of his lungs as he tried to push himself out of the restraints but it was hard to do so.

Essex had his own plans for the Carnage suit wearer. He had his eyes on those Morlocks that had been living underneath the sewers and had been polluting the mutant gene pool.

"I've heard of your holy mission Cletus and I must say, that I'm inspired," Essex commented, working some of that charming manipulation that he was so fond of.

"Yes, inspired, I will inspire you, inspiration!" Cletus howled as he tried to free himself.

"Yes, I have a group of people who don't respect what you're doing, a true pity, but that's just how some things work," Essex muttered in a fretful voice. "They are not….they are not worthy of your cause."

Essex knew better than to release Carnage in his lab. He had Vertigo and Blockbuster move the beast into the sewers before they did so.

"I hunger, I hunger….I HUNGER FOR CARNAGE!"

His claws and teeth tried to rip his way from the restraints.

"Yes, my pet, you do," Essex whispered with a toothy grin once the monster was out of an earshot.

He knew that he would get stirred up to go against Har-Rell, and then after the modifications that had been made to the symbiote, he would prove to be a dangerous match. Even though the wearer of the suit was not the brightest bulb in the box.

The good news was that no one would miss Cletus Kassady if the suit had destroyed him.

* * *

"Zod's little games may have had the reverse effect that he intended."

Lillandra said that statement to Harry as the two of them made their way down the halls of the church.

"There are more people interested in seeing what the Church of Enlightenment is all about now more than ever before," Lillandra commented. "Young Kory has taken to her membership well and it gives her something to do, given that she's trying to fit in on this strange world."

Yes, Kory or Starfire as she took as her codename, had been splitting her time from between the Church and the School to get used to her powers. The other girls were trying to help her fit in. He fixed her up with an imagine inducer like Kurt's because her orange skin and long red hair might in fact lead to some questions and it was just that much.

"Whitney Frost, you've heard of her, haven't you?" Lilandra asked Harry and Harry smiled.

"Yes, she's a socialite, I've seen her name pop up in the society page of the Bugle a few times," Harry confirmed to the woman. "She's expressed interest in joining the Church, hasn't she?"

"Yes," Lillandra said and the smile crossed her face. "Among others."

"Well that's a good thing," Harry commented lightly as the woman invited Harry into her office, which had been revamped. "And if I know Selene, she's always recruiting."

"Well to be fair, you've gotten to know her really well," Lillandra said with a wink and Harry leaned back against the wall with the woman in question offering a smile. "So, how about you join me in my office for a drink?"

"That would be quite refreshing," Harry agreed as he allowed the woman to move forward, seeing her ass in her tight pants.

"The fake Church was a symbol even though it wasn't the real deal, but still it was something that Selene took great offense to when Zod burned it down," Lillandra informed him as she leaned back and fixed her gaze towards Harry, the smile going across her face was not something that could be beaten by any means.

"A symbol for many people, and it's becoming a symbol that many of my enemies feared," Harry commented, thinking of Creed and those of his like.

Charles Xavier, while his dream was sound, was going to just make all of the speeches in the world about how mutants and humans could stand together. With the resources that he had, there were a few things that he could do more, other than set up a school to train mutants. At least that's what Harry was thinking right now.

And Harry was doing all of the things that he thought Xavier should be doing, so for some reason, the scales were going to balance out, being close to tipping over. The world was changing and he wondered what he unleashed upon it.

"I see the wheels calculating in her you mind," Lillandra stated and she backed off when Harry raised half of an eyebrow. "I do not mean to pry but…."

"No, it's fine," Harry told the woman. "It's the only way that things can be learned."

"Very true," Lillandra conceded as it came to her once again that she had a lot to learn from Har-Rell.

The two of them enjoyed their moment and they could have enjoyed a lot more where there was a loud thump that resounded beneath them. The thump shook Harry a slight bit and he turned his head around, looking over his shoulder.

He would normally let the thump go, providing it did not happen a second time.

The thump happened a second time and now Harry craned his neck downwards to pick up the source of the disturbance.

"So, how is your security?" Harry asked Lillandra and she frowned before answering him.

"Our security is top notch, better than the Xavier Institute," Lillandra informed him but she paused and winced, that was not necessarily the ringing endorsement that it sounded like in her mind. "So…."

Harry paused and focused his hearing. There were screams.

These screams came from the sewers, which meant that the Church was not the target.

"There's something in the sewers below the Church," Harry whispered to the woman and the woman's eyes widened.

She was about to tell him to go down the steps and take care of business but as it turned out, Harry was already down the steps.

'_Faster than a speeding bullet,' _Lillandra thought to herself but then she smiled. _'Although likely not when it counts and praise the heavens for that.'_

Harry made his way down to the sewers and now combined with the thumping, there were the sounds of screams. Screams were never a good thing, with Harry making his way further down to the edge of the sewers. He pinpointed the source of the scream.

'_Zero in and focus,' _Harry thought.

He saw the shadowed figure, with a female who had reddish hair and bone spikes protruding from her arms. Of course, these spikes did little to no effort and there were two more drained husks on the ground. There was another scream that rattled him.

"What are you?" a dark haired woman with an eyepatch stated, as she held a staff and she tried to stab the monster but the monster blocked the staff.

"Your worst nightmare," the monster growled as his eyes glowed with malice.

Harry made his move, blasting at him with his fist extended at the speed of light.

One super powered punch to the back of the head and the monster careened down to the ground.

A slicing spell was avoided when the monster moved out of the way.

Harry felt woozy the closer that he went to the monster.

"Oh, it's you, well these chumps aren't the most important, it's the main course!" the monster shrieked as he raised his tentacles up and tried to stab them into Harry.

Harry felt like he was moving in quicksand but somehow he got out of the way.

He moved out a disc from his back and he threw it at the wall. It stuck intot he wall with pinpoint precision.

With a charm, he detonated it, and caused the tunnel to collapse around underneath the monster. Bits of rubble buried the monster alive and it gave an inhumane scream. If this was only the end, Harry would be happy but he knew better.

The female with spikes coming out of her arm watched him. "Did he….did he…."

Harry felt feverish symptoms, being up close and personal with the person. He walked them off however even though he wanted to hurl up his breakfast, lunch and dinner.

"Is he dead?" the woman with the eyepatch shuddered, recalling this beast of a creature that slaughtered three of her Morlocks like they were nothing.

"No, he isn't, not yet!" Harry yelled as he tried to lock onto the creature but it had disappeared further underneath ground.

It will be back any time, now that it got a taste of him.

Lillandra made her way down the tunnels to join them and came face to face to the woman.

"So, Callisto," Lillandra commented to the woman. "What happened?"

"You two…."

"The Morlocks have taken up residence underneath the Church, in an old part of it we don't use any longer," Lillandra explained and Harry nodded, that made perfect sense.

"So, you're him," the spike girl said in an awed tone.

"Marrow, help me scan the tunnel, make sure that no others have been…." Callisto muttered as she held the dried out husk. It was like all of his life energy had been drained and it was a ghastly sight.

Selene made her way down. Normally she would be glad to see her beloved but the situation was not one that invited tender warm greetings.

"This monster was of Essex's creation," Selene said grimly as she held up the photos. "It attacked two members of the Club today…."

"No one in the Inner Circle though?" Harry asked as he could barely stand.

"No, but I think that he was trying to get at Emma, but she was able to avoid him," Selene explained seriously. "He doesn't spend much time on one mission, poor attention span."

"With someone like that, it might be a good thing, but who could be wearing the costume now?" Harry asked.

With another symbiote around, things were going to be getting more dangerous.

"Let's get you checked out," Selene told to him and she seemed positively murderous, as if imagining what she would do to this creature.

* * *

Harry Potter was the epitome of all that was fit, at least that's what he would say. Never the less he rarely got sick. The young wizard was slightly annoyed about the situation. For the first time, he had shown something akin to weakness and he was not sure if he enjoyed everything that came along with that.

Selene watched him, before clearing her throat.

"If this monster affected you in any way, that means that it was created with the intent to destroy you," Selene commented to Harry as she keep her eyes on him. "All of your vital signs check out as intended, which means that you're not damaged."

"Thank Merlin for small favors," Harry said bitingly but Selene's mouth curled into a half of a smile.

"Do not thank anyone as of yet, love," Selene warned him as she pushed her hair back out of her face. The dark haired woman placed the pictures on the desk to show him what happened. "And this is the end game of this...creature."

"Charming," Harry breathed as he saw more of the dried out husks that resembled the ones that he fought earlier. They were not the most put together things in the world. His heart hammered across his chest, with a thump, thump, thump as he looked them over.

"I fear that our problems are just beginning," Selene mused.

"My thoughts exactly."

Harry turned around and saw a redhead woman walk up. She had an angelic face but he could tell that there were some kind of calculating intentions that moved behind those green eyes. Never the less she had soft facial features, looking to be a few years within Harry's age. She wore a top that was conservative, but at the same time, showcase the fact that she had an impressive rack. She wore a pair of tight black pants that wrapped around what looked to be a delicious ass as she turned herself to the side. The profile view of the woman looked nice, quite nice in fact. Harry smiled as he watched her.

"Tess Mercer, my lord," the redhead informed him.

"Right, the daughter of Lionel Luthor," Harry offered without skipping a beat as he kissed the top of her hand as she presented it. From what he had been able to find out, she did not use the Luthor name to distance herself with the stigma that some of it offered and also to prove that she could succeed on her own merits without that name backed up.

Tess looked impressed that he knew, then again it would be the Star Child, so he would be a person who would do his homework and then some.

"Well you have…" Tess whistled. "It appears that Carnage has struck again…."

"Is that what we're calling him now?" Selene asked in a bored tone.

"Well, do you have a better name for someone who leaves all of this destruction in his wake?" Tess asked and Selene supposed that it would not be that prudent to argue with that.

"No, so you say that he's struck again."

Harry was interested, especially with the sense that he got from the symbiote. He wondered what in the hell Essex did to it because that was not normal.

It was far from normal in fact.

A slight headache presented itself to Harry but he shrugged it off. He was not going to lose sense of himself that easily.

"You seem distracted…."

Harry smiled to Tess. "Just trying to figure out a way to defeat this enemy."

He had ways to negate the symbiote back at RAO, but naturally the rules of the game might have changed since Essex messed with the genetic make up of the creature. Harry was playing with an entirely different set of rules.

Tess's eyes flashed for a moment. "My uncle….he was studying it, he had a piece of it, and he has data, if that can help in any way…."

"Any help is appreciated," he confirmed with a smile as she pulled out the drive that she had that. "And you can prepared, always an admirable quality within a woman."

"He's struck again."

Karen turned up that time to green them.

"Two police officers, wrong place, wrong time, they got taken out," Karen contributed, barely supressing a shuddering.

Harry made a split decision of what he was going to do.

"We're going to need to figure out a way to put this monster down before he attacks anyone else," Harry said quickly.

"We'll put our resources together, perhaps that will lead to us coming up with a workable solution," Karen suggested and after that word, Harry had no choice but to agree.

There was a problem with the creature known as Carnage, they needed to figure out a way to take him down and keep him down. Which was far easier said than done.

Harry was figuring out that plan where he could get the monster down, although it was a one in a million shot to take the monster down. He kept thinking about all of the angles of the situation and all of the things that he could do right.

Going in there and just attacking the creature was not going to work.

Harry marked down the data.

"There's no pattern, but that's to expected," Harry muttered as he raised an eyebrow.

Selene's expression was pained. "Certainly, there would be no pattern. If there was a pattern, it would be easier to figure out what we were going to do."

Tess chimed in. "With an enemy this feral and beastly, he isn't going to be pinned down easily."

Harry looked closely, perhaps thinking that he missed something but much to his utter frustration, he did not miss one trick. He snapped his fingers, he could have sworn that that there was something.

"Are you feeling okay?"

Karen asked Harry that question. She had heard of his near dizzy spell. Even though he was careful not to show any weakness, Harry held his head up in the air.

"Yes, I'm fine, or I will be when Carnage is no longer at large," Harry admitted.

"I think that's a statement we may all be able to agree on," Selene said as Harry got up to his feet.

He tried to figure out anything, a trail, anything. He would need a piece of the creature, but that was easier said than done. It was giving off some familiar energy signatures.

"I'll look over the data that you got me, and oh it was nice to meet you, Tess," Harry said to the woman who smiled, as she handed him the data.

"Likewise," Tess said, although she wished it was under better circumstances.

* * *

"It's official, we are lost."

A blonde girl who was of sixteen years of age threw her head back. She had startling blue eyes, a light blue top that wrapped around her developing and quite nice breasts. Her shirt rode up to show her abs. The blonde pushed herself back against the wall, a smile crossing her face. She had blue shorts and legs that were alluring. She had boots that wrapped around her feet.

"We're not….okay, we're lost," her companion conceded as she had dark haired young woman of about seventeen years of age. She had long black hair that framed her face, along with blue eyes and juicy lips. She had a fairly decent bust as well as her black shirt wrapped snugly around her. She had a flat and toned stomach, along with abs and dazzling looking legs. She was wearing a pair of black shorts. "But…."

"You two ladies are lost but don't worry, I'll help you find your way to the newest morgue."

The two females looked up in numb shock. This creature was red, looking like a scab that had been picked over several times. He had sunken in white eyes and razor sharp teeth and claws. He was giving off a glow.

"Just who are you supposed to be?" the blonde asked as he dropped to the ground.

"I'm the guy who's going to free you two bitches from your pitiful existence," the creature shissed as he licked his lips. "You two will be a couple of nice treats."

The dark haired girl opened her mouth to speak. "Sh…"

The large tentacle knocked her in the face before she could cry out what she was going to cry out. The woman flew backwards and landed on the ground.

"Mary!" the blonde yelled as she did a duck and roll, and reached into her back.

The glops of red goo shot at her.

"That's…disgusting," she managed as she pulled a face.

"Stay still you brat!" Carnage yelled.

"Why don't you make me?" the spirited blonde girl challenged him as she balled her fist ready to fight.

"Hey, you stay away from them," a police officer commented.

"Don't you have a donut shop to clean out, man?" Carnage asked as he stabbed the police officer through his chest, into his heart and blood spilled down him.

The blonde reached into her bag and pulled out a staff.

"Nice staff," Carnage commented as she sent a burst of energy from it. Like a demented monkey, Carnage swung out of the way. "But mine's bigger!"

Carnage shot a giant phallic object from his pelvis area and rammed the blonde in the midsection, knocking the wind out of her.

There was a blur that swopped in and swooped up, flying the two girls out of the way before Carnage could make them his next meal.

"You wrecked my fun!" Carnage growled.

"Fun time's over!" Spider-Man yelled, as he saw Arcane take the girls out, which left him alone to deal with big bad and gruesome.

'_That seems to be the story of my life, Arcane goes off with the girls, and I have to fight the giant monster,' _Spider-Man thought as he perched himself ready to fight.

"Well if it isn't the late, great, Spider-Man!" Carnage yelled as he sent symbiotic buzzsaws ready to slice and dice his enemy. Spider-Man used his amazing, spectacular, and sensational agility to escape them.

"Hey, watch where you point those things!" Spider-Man protested as he tried to avoid every attack. He nearly got his head cut off ,along iwth a couple of his legs.

The web head was not going to lie, he was not having a pleasant time with everything. He was getting his weekly recommended cardio workout with this one.

'_Okay, when did I lose control,' _Spider-Man mused but the answer hit him. _'Yeah, about three seconds after…'_

Spider-Man dodged the knives but he webbed onto a pair of trash cans and flung it.

'_Thank God for today being trash day,' _Spider-Man thought as he used the cans as projectiles to take his enemy down.

Carnage smashed the trash cans and howled.

"You can't stop me, no one can stop me!" Carnage yelled as he raised his hands and flung the daggers from his tentacles at the web slinger.

Spider-Man ducked and rolled, closing his eyes to brace himself for impact.

Arcane rushed in, now that he was sure that the two girls were out of harm's way, he could head in. The cop was at the part of no return, having had his internal organs ripped out and drained by Carnage.

"Blood, I hunger for blood, spider blood, spider blood, radioactive spider blood!" Carnage sang as he bounced up and down and tried to stab Spider-Man.

The web head ducked the spikes before they murdered him to death.

Arcane dropped down, squinted his eyes, and fired off heat vision. The heat vision impacted the creature from behind and staggered him back half of a step.

He saw the symbiotic retract for a second, giving him a visual of the face. Harry did not recognize who was underneath the symbiote.

"Oh you are much better," Carnage growled as Harry stepped off, feeling a twisting knot going through his stomach. "What's the matter, feeling a bit pukeish?"

Wanda turned up, with Harry signaling the team to go in. She reared back her hand and fired.

One hex bolt nearly knocked the symbiote off. Jean swooped in with a telekinetic attack to pin him against the wall.

Kitty grabbed it by the ankles, to try and pull it into the pavement. Kara jumped down, using her heat vision.

"That little trick doesn't work on me!" Carnage growled but Harry gave them the all clear sign.

He flung three disc like objects, objects that cut through Carnage like a hot knife through butter.

The symbiotic screamed and for a second, Harry swore that it worked. At least the shrieks were to a point and he started to kill.

Then the monster healed himself and looked up.

"Oh come on, it can heal, did Sinister throw some of Wolverine's DNA in there, too?" Kitty demanded and the symbiote's teeth bared.

"You look good enough to eat, my dear."

"Stand back, get Spider-Man out of here," Harry told Kara and she nodded.

Harry had another trick up his sleeve, and he hurled a grenade. It flew to the area and prepared to detonate upon impact.

If his theory was right regarding Carnage, and it could be, the creature screamed out loud as so much light went around him.

Carnage burst underneath ground but not before Harry managed to get a sample of the symbiotic. The symbiote tried to attack Harry, so he shoved it in a vial and sealed it shut.

"He fucking got away," Kitty swore in fury.

She really, totally, hated that when the bad guys did that.

"We've got bigger problems," Harry informed the girls and he turned to Spider-Man. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, other than a couple of crack ribs, I'm fine," Spider-Man grimaced as he stood to his feet.

Harry slumped against the wall, trying not to betray the fact that he nearly lost his barings with the symbiote. It had an effect worse than the Kryptonite did before he negated it.

* * *

"This might be worse than we thought," Gwen commented as she closed her eyes as a group sat in one of Harry's public offices outside of the protection of the Stronghold. "Well actually it's worse than we thought on three accounts."

"Start with what's the least of the worst and work from there," Harry told her and Chloe smiled before she stepped in.

"Well, we got that nice little image of the person that you were dealing with, his name is Cletus Kassady and to say he's nuts, that would be the understatement to end understatements," Chloe told them. "He's killed hundreds of people, but he's been tried as insane several times. He's busted out of Ravencroft at least twice but this third time this might have been the weirdest of all."

Harry frowned as he slowly said one thing to Chloe.

"Define weird."

"Weird as in the fact that he was released," Chloe said and Harry looked at her.

"His doctor is a man named Barton Hamilton, he's working with all of the costumed criminals that went through there and his latest patient was…."

"Eddie Brock," Harry interrupted and both girls nodded.

"Right in one," Gwen offered with a sigh. "And he's studied Brock, his psychosis, but there's been a lot of weird transactions to his bank account."

"Yeah, this far exceeds the median salary of a doctor at Ravencroft," Chloe added as she went through the records she had. "A few low level patients have died under his care….and their families have gotten a huge tip not to question."

"And you were able to find all of this in eight hours," Harry told Chloe, who offered a smile.

"Naturally, when you hack into SHIELD, there's really nothing that's too much of a challenge," Chloe said with a wide grin.

"Wait, you hacked into SHIELD?" Kitty asked, and she felt a twinge of jealously. She tried to hack into SHIELD once but she couldn't.

"Hey, I was bored, nothing else better to do that day," Chloe said with a nonchalant shrug. "I also hack into the Xavier Security system…..they really should work on improving that."

"I'm thinking the grounds are cursed, because Beast has improved it by what it was, or so Ororo tells me," Harry told them.

Gwen cleared her throat.

"Right, second thing, do you want to field this one?" Chloe asked Gwen. "I mean, it's right down your alley."

"Extremis, albeit a crude form, was found in this sample of symbiote you attacked, but also your DNA strands were found in it," Gwen said. "You know, when I imagined us having children, I don't think I imagined anything like that."

"You've imagined…." Chloe started but Kitty cleared her throat.

"Right subject, back on it," Gwen said hastily as she turned the subject. "This thing, it drains life energy out of it, by a mere touch, but Kassady, being Kassady, does it in the most gruesome way possible. He stabs it straight through the chest."

"He's left carnage in his wake," Chloe commented as she whistled. "So what do we do…"

Harry smiled painfully.

"We're going to need some back up but first, Kitty, you, Jean, and Rogue see what you can get out of Hamilton, but be careful, there could be some sinister intentions watching," Harry commented and Kitty smiled.

"Will do," Harry offered.

"So, we're going after that thing after it nearly ripped by of us apart?" Spider-Man asked, as thankfully Lara was able to mend his injuries. Then again Kryptonian technology could work wonders.

"Yes, and I'm coming with," Gwen stated as she reached into her bag.

"I'm not sure if this is such a good id…."

Gwen fired a gun at Spider-Man and he dodged the projectile.

"For the record, I missed on purpose," Gwen said as she held the gun in her hand. "Are there going to be any more doubts about my capabilities?"

"No, we're cool," Spider-Man said as he let out the breath.

"That's good," Gwen said cheerfully as she checked out the gun. "These darts have the cure for the formula, at least a partial one, what Stark was able to make before the other people who received it went up in flames."

"A partial cure is better than we have," Harry said, but the Extremis elements of the symbiote was only one part of modified symbiote. "We're going to need an expert, someone who knows the symbiote."

"You're not going to say it, are you?" Spider-Man asked.

Harry smiled. "We need Eddie Brock."

"Oh, he said it," Spider-Man groaned.

**To Be Continued in the Next Chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7: Coming of Carnage Part Two

**Chapter 7: The Coming of Carnage Part Two. **

Ravencroft was a nice facility, or at least that's what it looked like on the outside. Kitty kept her gaze locked forward onto the building as she considered what she wanted to do next. The problem was with places like this, it that looks could in fact be deceiving. The brunette mutant led the way, with Jean and Rogue walking behind her.

"So, do you thinks this Hamilton guy's going to be any trouble?" Rogue asked. She obviously expected it, but she wanted feedback from the others.

Jean shook her head and gazed forward. "I'm not sure if he's going to be any trouble, but we better keep our eyes on what we're doing. Just in case he tries something."

"I think that it's more likely the people that he's working with that will have to be on the look out for," Kitty offered, as she double checked the information that Gwen and Chloe had dug up. "Someone's paying him really big bucks to make sure that they get their test subjects. And it's not like anyone will miss any of the people in this place. Wait...I mean...they won't miss the..."

"Yeah, Kitty, I get it," Jean interjected before Kitty babbled herself into a stupor, smiling in spite of herself. Kitty was rambling which never was going to be a good thing. Still the redhead focused her way forward towards the front door.

Jean used a light mental probe to ensure that the guards believed that they had the proper credentials to get inside. Sure that might have been a cheap trick to use, but Jean was not looking to play nice right now. With all of the lives that were on the line, she had to do what she had to do to get that job done.

'_Okay, let's try and figure this out,' _Jean projected to the other girls and Kitty and Rogue nodded. Their jaws set as they walked forward. Both of them were taking a couple of steady steps and carefully keeping their wits about each other. They did not want anyone to get the drop on them.

Doctor Hamilton was sitting at his desk, scratching some notes onto a piece of paper. Jean, being the most mature and the one with the most tact, decided to take a step forward to engage the good doctor in conversation.

"How did you girls get in here?" Hamilton demanded before Jean even spoke.

"We're here to ask a couple of questions about one of your patients," Jean said as she looked at the man before her and his attention was grabbed firmly. She decided to strike whilst the iron was really hot. "Cletus Kassady."

Hamilton's poker face was good; he was not going to betray what he knew or did not know. He looked at the females with a set jaw and spoke in an even tempered voice.

"I don't know…"

'_Yeah, we figured that was going to happen. Jean, you know what to do,' _Harry said and she did in fact know what to do.

'_Right,' _Jean responded as she focused her eyes on the man before her.

Before Jean could take that next step and pry the information that she needed out of the man's head, there was a painful disorientating sensation that broke her concentration.

'_Vertigo,' _Jean thought with a pained expression on her face as she felt dizzy and unable to stand.

'_Yeah, so says my head,' _Rogue grumbled with a grimace on her face as she tried to keep her head up and focused on the job at hand, but that was easier said than done. She felt a rattling sensation going through her head and the Southern Belle tried to shake it off but her blurred vision made it pretty difficult for things to be adjusted to properly.

Vertigo made her physical presence known, alongside Blockbuster and Riptide. They were about ready to attack them, but before they could do much damage. Jean used her telekinetic abilities to turn the table.

'_Rogue. Take out Blockbuster,' _Jean told her in a pained tone as she blocked out the vertigo effect in her mind.

'_Gladly,' _Rogue offered, cracking her knuckles she raised her hand up and rearing her arm back proceeded to plow it into Blockbuster's chest. It was music to her ears to hear the monster of a man thump down like a sack of potatoes.

Blockbuster clenched his stomach in pain and that just pissed him off even more as he tried to get to his feet.

Kara zipped in and took down Harpoon before he could stab Kitty in the back.

"You should really watch your back," Kara advised Kitty as she hurled Harpoon into the air but he landed on his feet.

"So noted," Kitty said as she watched Kara use her heat vision to take out the spear before it struck her in the face. The blonde grabbed Harpoon and slammed him against the closest wall.

Blockbuster raised his hands up, but Kara beat him to the punch. Literally, as she punched him in the face causing him to split in half.

"Don't hit him!" Kara yelled as she saw two Blockbusters go up against her, trying to take her to task. Kara nimbly dodged their strikes, taking extra care not to hit back, even though every one of her instincts was telling her to counter their sloppy blows.

"Yeah, Harry beat him. I think he said, by causing them to hit each other," Kitty replied as she closed her eyes. She sure hoped that Sinister didn't iron out that flaw with Blockbuster's powers. The brunette's heart was pumping a steady stream of blood into her heart and she pushed herself forwards. The woman's intentions were rather fierce as she drove an elbow onto the back of Riptide's head.

There was a large crack as said enemy fell to the ground and he was out of the battle for sure.

'_Okay, so totally got this one,' _Kitty thought, as she jumped between the two duplicates then went intangible. Which caused Blockbuster to punch himself out. Yes, he is in fact that stupid.

Two Blockbusters became one and taking advantage, Kara froze him into a solid block of ice with her ice breath preventing him from doing any further damage.

"That should keep him on ice," Kara said as she folded her arms in smug triumph and Kitty looked towards her with a raised eyebrow in disbelief.

"You, like, so totally did not say that," Kitty said wanting to face palm. That was such a Bobby thing to say that it was not funny.

"I so totally did and oh before I forget…." With that Kara leaned over and pinched Kitty rather hard on the ass. The girls had been leaning on her pretty heavily lately to knock it off. While Jubilee was exempt from it considering she was a mall rat who grew up in Beverly Hills, Kitty was from fucking Chicago.

"OWWW!"

The girls saw Veritgo, or at least the puddle of glop what was once Vertigo. Jean realized that these Marauders were pale duplicates, sent here to distract them. A horrific moment of realization went through the redhead's mind as she figured that out and the reason why popped into her mind as soon as she realized who was no longer amongst their number.

Barton Hamilton slipped from his office like a thief in the night, the weasel having run as fast as he could be allowed. Jean clutched her fists in fury, she could not believe it.

"Hamilton won't get far," Rogue said, trying to put an optimistic spin on the situation.

Jean was not sure about that one. If Hamilton had some kind of technical support or some more backup from Sinister. He might have gotten away cleanly.

The girls knew that they could not let the doctor get away, although the doctor had already gotten away in the past tense of the world. The frustrating difference between those two words were rather clear to them.

They hoped that Harry was having better luck. Sure, the fight against the Marauders went well but it was a distraction and it allowed Hamilton to escape.

Although, unknown to the girls, he did not escape completely for they were not the only ones who were watching him.

* * *

Peter Parker, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man tried not to question what was happening, but there was that nagging voice in the back of his head that told the Web Slinger that what they were doing, wasn't a good idea. It was the type of voice that just would not shut up kind of like a certain red haired harridan of a mother that will not be named. It constantly berated him over and over about how trusting Venom was going to burn them badly. Especially, given what Brock and the symbiote were like. Then combine the two together, and someone was just asking for a lot of trouble.

The web head turned around to face Harry and he stated one thing.

"Are you sure…."

"That this is a good idea?" Harry asked him and Spider-Man nodded. "Well, good idea might not be the best way to describe it, but given the circumstances…"

Gwen chimed in with a few words of her own. "It's an idea, nothing more nothing less. We all know what Venom's like….well you two more than me, but Carnage, he's far worse than Brock on his worst day."

Spider-Man shuddered, his bruises still had bruises from his last little go around with Carnage. He took a half of a step forward and felt his knees quiver for a brief instance.

'_Easy does it, Pete,' _Spider-Man thought to himself as his spider sense did not go off.

Even though Harry was devoid of spider sense. He still had a sixth sense that told him that trouble as brewing somewhere. Then again, he was insanely paranoid and a pessimist, so he always thought there was going to be trouble. Harry was prepared to fight back and attack at a moment's notice or even less than a moment's notice.

This was the apartment that Chloe found listed as Brock's last known address. Harry was on edge, so he kept his mind focused on the situation in front of him. His green eyes tracked everything around him carefully. It was a crap shoot that Brock even came back here in the first place.

Yet, it was the only shot that they had, so it was full steam ahead, for better or for worse. Harry stood steady as he looked over his shoulder. Gwen held her weapon in hand, in case the other symbiote came calling. After all, if the symbiote that spawned him was here, there might be a sick kind of survival of the fittest type thing waiting to be enacted. She wouldn't post it past the alien to be the type that ate it's own young

"You should have called before you came over! We would have baked you a _cake_!"

That last word was said in the most over the top manner possible as Venom stepped out of the shadows. His teeth, his tongue, they were all hanging out and he was ready to attack them.

"We don't want any trouble, Brock," Spider-Man said warily as he took half of a step back. The villain watched from half in the shadows half out of them. A loud round of laughter echoed outwards as his tongue flew back and forth nastily leaving slime everywhere it went.

"Well trouble, trouble, that's what you're going to get, if you come a knocking in our crib," Venom growled as he took them all in. "And if it isn't the Star Child, well this party just keeps getting better."

Venom turned towards Gwen with a leering expression.

"Hello, babe, how's it hanging?" Venom asked to the blonde but Gwen held a gun on him and it was obvious that she would not hesitate to pull the trigger if he got out of line. "Oh, feisty, like that in a woman."

"Don't tempt me," Gwen said as she held the gun on him. It was not a tranquilizer gun with the antidote. It was a gun. Period. As in a projectile weapon that tended to punch a gaping hole into the person it was used on.

"Well, why did you come…."

"It's Carnage," Spider-Man stated to Venom and the symbiote sank back to reveal Eddie Brock's face, so he could raise an eyebrow in confusion. "You know, the other symbiote."

"Ah, yes, that bitch," Venom growled in hatred. "This fucking world isn't big enough for two symbiotes, and we're going to make sure that nothing like that abomination ever happens again."

"Well, the world isn't big enough for two symbiotes! So I say that the last symbiote standing will be me!" Carnage said while hanging upside down from the ceiling and dropping to the ground he went to attack Venom. His claws bared and he was about ready to rip this pretender to shreds.

"We don't think so!" Venom growled out as he rushed forwards toward Carnage but he took him out with a huge punch to the face.

Carnage and Venom circled each other. Venom launched out several symbiote whips toward Carnage but he created buzzsaws that sliced through the black symbiote. There was a loud scream of agony, as Carnage moved in to keep attacking his prey.

Venom dodged out of the way and kicked his enemy in the face. He wrapped his tentacles around Carnage and tried to smother him.

"This is not a hentai!" Carnage growled as he shifted into a spiky mass that looked like something out of a nineties comic book. The spikes stabbed through Venom's skin, causing him pain.

The other symbiote was really strong, Sinister made it that way and this was proven more and more as the fight between the two alien beings progressed.

Spider-man broke the silence as he watched Venom and Carnage brawl with each other.

"So, should we get involved?" Spider-Man asked but Harry shushed him.

"Wait for it," Harry whispered, he was going to pick his moment. There was a few seconds pause.

Harry nodded to Gwen who had a gun in each hand. The blonde's aim was pretty good; then again would not be her best considering she was trying to shot accurately with a gun in each hand. The blonde let in one breath and aimed for the fences. She fired two bullets into the creature.

Carnage screamed and this allowed Venom to get back into the game. At least until he was stabbed straight through the stomach causing him to let out a horrific scream. Yanking his hands free Carnage revealed that he had transformed them into two knives that were appropriate for slicing and dicing.

Now Harry made his move, hoping that this would work. He was wearing a suit that would hopefully shield him from the symbiote this time, at least if the test he ran were right.

"Well, well, you've brought protection!" Carnage taunted as he rushed him but before he could strike, Harry knocked him out of the window with a savage punch that rattled his jaw and knocked the teeth loose in his mouth.

Spider-Man went flying out of the window after him, hoping to distract Carnage before he could go on a rampage killing civilians.

Harry needed something to remove the symbiote, but he had a feeling that it would kill the person inside. Given that the person in question was a serial killer, who had murdered countless people at the behest of a psychotic clown that apparently lived in his head. Harry was not too broke up about that fact. Some people might be, but they were the types that would white knight any cause and still defend the murderer's right to live even after their family had been tied up and murdered before their very eyes.

Harry had knocked Carnage out the window and Spider-Man had gone after him. Venom decided to dive onto the dog pile, leaving Gwen to watch the situation as all three of them went crashing down to the pavement with a sickening crunch.

Gwen climbed down, lacking the ability to fly or web sling, she was going to have to get down the hard way.

* * *

The dust settled and Venom was the first one that got back onto his feet. There was a huge impact crater where Carnage had been smashed hard into the pavement below, the symbiote laying motionless at the center of it.

There was a few seconds where everyone thought that Carnage was destroyed. The symbiote figure rolled over and he cackled like a hyena on crack, the laughter getting more outlandish by each passing second. He held up the knives as Har-Rell stood before him, reaching into his overcoat.

"What are you going to do?" Carnage asked him, as he taunted him with malice in his eyes.

There was a smile that curved around Harry's face as he held two devices in his hand and lifted them above his head.

"Well, something like this," Harry stated as he lifted up his devices in his hand and he hurled them over his head. He gave a second set an underhanded throw with the grenades smashing onto the ground. There was bright light that flowed out and impacted Carnage.

Carnage flailed backwards screaming all the while as Harry slipped his hands into his overcoat. He pulled out a pair of brass knuckles, which had been enhanced with magic and charged with sonic energy. Harry hoped that it would be enough to take down his adversary but he supposed that he would find out in a matter of moments.

Click.

Click.

BOOM!

The double knuckle punch nailed Carnage and burned right through the symbiote. He screamed as the sonic energy reverberated throughout his body, although it did not quite separate from him, at least not yet.

"I'll take it from here," Venom growled as he tackled Carnage into the closet wall as the suit slowly reformed around him. The red and black symbiote countered by grabbing hold of the black and white one then smashing into the wall with a thunderous crash. Carnage stepped back, pleased with what he did.

Harry watched the battle, seeing the two of them having a throw down with each other. Neither side backed down. Both raised their arms and then tried to punch each other out.

The two of them locked their hands together, their knuckles cracking from the strain as they pushed against each other. A wild fury was apparent in each of their eyes. Their grips tightened as tendons strained from the force they leveraged against each other. Neither of them were willing to back down.

Venom, surprised his enemy by breaking the stand off and making the next attack, sweeping the legs out from underneath him. Picking Carnage up, a huge throw lead to an even bigger smash as the red and black symbiote was plowed through a wall. Harry stood up straighter and Spider-Man raised an eyebrow.

"So did I miss anything?" Gwen asked as she joined them, watching the fight all the wile with a raised eyebrow.

Harry shook his head. "No, you're back just in time for the finale."

Gwen nodded, barely able to suppress the smile that was going across her face, and the loud crack of Venom going against Carnage could be heard.

"I'll take that!" Venom howled as he ripped the symbiote from Kasady.

"Um, you know….what will happen if he….."

Spider-Man's tone trailed off as he saw Kasady drop to the ground, his skin completely devoid of any color, in fact he looked like he was malnourished. It was a gruesome, disgusting sight and it could turn the stomach of anyone who had been unfortunate enough to witness it.

"YES!" Venom yelled as he waved his arm into the air. "FINALLY WE ARE WHOLE AGAIN AND FINALLY WE WILL…"

Harry blasted the piece of symbiote out of his hand before he could merge with it. With another swift movement, he contained it in an energy bubble.

"NO!" Venom shouted as he felt so incomplete. He had to have it, his beloved, his precious, his other. He could not live without it. "You will pay!"

"Cash or credit?" Harry asked as Venom rushed him but Spider-Man webbed onto his back.

"Oh, can I ride this one?" Spider-Man asked but in seconds, Venom threw him off.

"Gwen, you're on!" Harry yelled, as she pulled a hand held sonic cannon from her bag that she had borrowed from RAO and aimed at Venom. Gwen sent a sonic pulse from it at Venom. He screamed out loud as he felt the symbiote slowly rip off his body.

"No! We won't! We won't, you can't, you will not, I WILL NOT PERISH!" Venom yelled as he knocked the cannon out of Gwen's hand.

Gwen, dodged several of the tentacles that tried to run her through. The blonde did a duck and roll, before bringing out the tranquilizer gun.

BANG.

The gun fired a dart into Venom though the creature felt nothing, at least for a moment.

"What was that supposed to do?" Venom asked but Harry smiled and he waved his hand.

"Something along these lines, Brock," Harry told him and Brock offered a pained shriek as he felt a freezing sensation go through him. His other, it was leaving him, slowly, leaving him. He could not even keep his head up, as the symbiote felt the intense heat or the simulation of intense heat.

Harry fired off his heat vision and it screamed in terror. The intense heat causing it to boil painfully.

"No, not again, not again, not again," Brock managed as he dropped to his hands and knees. "Why….what do you have against true love?"

"That's not true love, it's sick obsession," Harry corrected as he saw Brock and Kasady down on the ground, with a shudder.

He hoped that this would be the last of the symbiotes but he knew better, boy did he know better. After all, he thought he destroyed the thing the last three times, or so, honestly he lost count.

"Well, that was fun," Spider-Man offered as the boys in blue showed up to haul Kasady and Brock away. "So, anyone up for pizza?"

Gwen offered a sigh but no matter what, she couldn't help but have a smile on her face when she was around her boyfriend and their mutual best friend.

Harry held two samples of the symbiote in his hand, one of the modified symbiote and the other of the original. Knowing Essex, he had another copy of the symbiote on hand and another piece had survived. The thing was like a cockroach in that regard.

'_My work, is rarely done,' _Harry thought, with a smile across his face and as he prepared to make his next move.

At least Brock and Kasady were off the streets, for now at least. He figured that there were some symbiote traces in their blood stream. That was the key problem as Harry saw it and proof that his work, no matter how much he wanted it to be, was far from over.

He would take these samples back to the stronghold and with time and the data he had, would find a way to permanently destroy them. Given the fact that the symbiote spawned once it could do so again and again until the world was overrun.

* * *

Harry escorted the two of them back to Ravencroft, as he wanted to make sure they arrived without incident. After they got there safely, he slipped inside of the asylum as he wanted to have a chat with a certain Doctor Hamilton.

There were questions that were dancing in his mind, questions that he was hoping to find answers to. His green eyes flashed as he made his way silently through the hallways. This place was supposed to help people but if it helped people, he thought that they weren't doing a very good job of it. He closed his eyes, then went invisible so he could silent make his way through the building.

Harry smiled, realizing how Sue's powers would make her the perfect assassin, due to the fact she could sneak up on anyone and it was not like that they could see her. Harry took a few tentative steps towards where he wanted to go and listened.

He used his X-Ray vision and saw Hamilton sitting in his office. After the girls had been called off, it appeared that Hamilton returned. Harry focused his super hearing and picked up his conversation.

"You say that this was a success….you do realize that the Star Child is now onto me?" Hamilton said over the phone to the person. Having the Star Child's attention focused on you, was about as bad as having the Batwoman's attention focused on you.

"That is your problem, isn't it?" Sinister asked in a crisp and cold voice. "Do not….do not assume that I will be able to protect you."

"I've given you test subjects. You realize the paperwork I had to make disappear, all the blackmailing I had to pull off in order to do what you required, wasn't easy?" Hamilton asked and Sinister paused before giving him a frank response.

"There's nothing wrong with a little hard work, Doctor Hamilton," Essex commented. "You keep up with your end of the bargain and that implant in your heart doesn't go off."

"Blackmailing me, that's not a good idea," Hamilton warned him. "I know people…."

"You know nothing," Essex commented with a smile. "Good day doctor. Oh and I'd be sure to watch your back. You never know when someone might be lurking around the corner to stick a knife within it."

Hamilton hung up the phone, picking his keys up off of the desk and walked out. He did a brisk power walk towards his destination, in fact he was walking with a distinct purpose, one foot in front of the other.

"I'll show him. I'll show all of them. I'm not a joke."

Hamilton continued his brisk walk, not even pausing for a second.

Harry followed at a discreet pace, he wondered where he was going. He followed the Doctor at a close distance, curiosity getting the better of him. The wizard took a few careful steps forward and inclined his ear, trying to get a better sense of what was going on around him.

Hamilton stopped outside of a high security set of cells. This was the super villain wing for lack of a better term. Some of Spider-Man's enemies, some of Iron Man's enemies, and the adversaries of a few other heroes were locked up tight here. Hamilton walked down to the end of a long and winding hallway, coming to a halt when he reached the outside of a cell he wanted.

"May I help you?"

Harry watched Norman Osborn sitting there. Although, he would have to say that Osborn had seen much better days. His eyes were sunken in and his teeth were about ready to rot out of his mouth. His skin was pale and clammy. He looked like a complete mess. He appeared to be scrawling something into the wall although he stopped when Hamilton showed up.

"Mr. Osborn, you do realize that you don't have much time left…."

"Don't tell me what I have already figured out, Doctor," Osborn stated to them in a cold voice. "Zod's possession….rattled me and I'm sure whatever Lionel's having your doctors slip me, it can't help."

"You sound rather lucid for a man…."

"I know you're in no position to blow the whistle on what's really going on," Osborn whispered as he placed his hands on the wall, knowing that touching the door would release a gas that would knock him out for at least the next three days. He tapped his fingers on the wall and he watched with a calm expression. "What do you need?"

"The Green Goblin formula. If you give it to me, I can make it for you, and it should cure you. Then you can get your revenge on everyone that put you in this position," Hamilton stated.

"I didn't know that a crack psychiatrist had any knowledge of advanced chemistry," Osborn fired back with a snort. "This is well beyond your depth, Doctor."

"Trust me Norman…."

"I trust you no more than anyone else does, Essex, Lionel, Fisk, they're all pulling your strings in some way. Aren't they?" Osborn asked. "And what about your teacher, Hugo Strange? The name ring's a bell doesn't it, he's was an enemy of the legendary Batman, twenty years ago when he haunted Gotham City."

"Batman….he's an urban legend and Professor Strange is a respected professional who has helped people," Hamilton argued.

"Urban legends have some kernel of a truth and I'm not one of your ignorant mental patients who you can feed lies to," Osborn stated as he held a coat hanger in his hand. Hamilton watched him with trepidation. "But you're a master of deception aren't you, Doctor? Every time that you look in the mirror, it's a lie, as you stare upon your own face."

"I'm your only ticket out of here, Norman."

Osborn said nothing and he was not going to say anything else for a long time.

"Goblin formula or you'll rot away to nothing in here," Hamilton warned him as he walked away.

Harry Potter was curious as to why some psychiatrist would be interested in the goblin formula. Unless he was working for someone who wanted it.

After following Hamilton around for a little bit more, he got nothing, at least nothing constructive. He would have to put down some listening charms and try again later. It was a mystery that he was going to have to return to.

Harry was going to check back in at the Church, because his little meeting the other day got cut short before a very interesting moment and he was determined to see it through.

* * *

"That's very interesting, notes about the meteor shower eighteen years ago," Harry stated as Patricia showed them off to Harry.

"Yeah, there's a rumor that a group of normal people who didn't have powers that were exposed to them, gained powers in the aftermath and then decided to blend into the shadows, almost like a hidden society," Patricia said as the redhead looked at Harry. "Of course, the real gift is standing before me."

Harry smiled, given that the universe's merged; the ship that he came on was here as well. Actually the most vital piece of it was what created the Fortress and what enabled the two worlds to collide. It cured the cancer that was the British Magical World by rewriting its history. Several people got different lives for better or for worse.

"Oh, that's not good," Patricia stated as she looked at the paper.

"What's not good?" Harry asked her.

Patricia was only too happy to inform him, although there was a sense of agitation in her tone. "Well Fudge's Fudge Company. Apparently, they put out such a substandard product that people got sick from it. It used to be quite good, although it might have been his father that did well. Then his father died and the current Fudge does not make as good of fudge as the older Fudge did."

Harry's weird resurrection coincidence sense was tingling.

"So this Fudge….his name…."

"Cornelius Fudge, he ran the top Fudge manufacturer into the ground," Patricia said and Harry sighed.

'_Well that wouldn't be the only thing that idiot ran into the ground. The more things change, the more they stay the same,'_Harry thought to himself, he had hoped that idiot would have been one of the things lost in translation.

As long as he did not get any government position of power, everything should be fine. Any further thoughts on that front were post-poned as the intercom on Patricia desk buzzed to life.

"Patricia, I'm ready to see him," Lillandra said over it and the two smiled at each other as their time together was cut short.

"Well nice talking to you again, Patricia," Harry said as he turned around and walked up the stairs.

It was a short trip given how fast Harry was but he made it up there in pretty much no time flat.

He saw Lillandra waiting up for him. Her midnight black hair was clipped back, which gave him a clear view of her beautiful face. She had an extra shade of lipstick on, perhaps not too much where it would be considered overkill. Her bright blue eyes burned towards him with a steamy passion, and she wore a blouse that showed enough cleavage to give him a hint of what she wanted. He could have sworn that the skirt she wore was a few inches shorter than normal as well.

"Har-Rell, good to see your well. You weren't looking too good the last time I saw you," Lillandra said with worry present in her eyes but she had a warm look on her face despite that.

"Well, I was given a full physical before I was allowed out and about again," Harry said as he sat on the chair in front of her but Lillandra sat on her desk. She dangled her high heel shoes on her feet, giving him a nice view of her stocking clad legs.

"We are among the last of our respective kind, the two of us. If something were to happen, there would be an entire treasure trove of knowledge that would be lost forever," Lillandra replied as she rolled her shoulders back and gave off a long sigh. It would be a real shame if something like that happened.

"That it is," Harry agreed as his eyes were fixated on her stocking clad legs, which looked like that's where she wanted them to be.

"Rather," Lillandra commented as she shifted her weight a slight amount, to show a bit more of her leg as she moved. "You know, the moment that you walked into this Church. I was actually surprised to see you in the flesh. Selene mentioned to me that you would come, but I didn't expect it to be so soon."

"I have a way of shattering all expectations," Harry remarked with a smile and she grabbed his hands.

"Rather, and your strength and ability to fulfill the needs of those around you is very amazing," Lillandra commented as she dropped his hands onto her legs, allowing him to get a feel of her stocking clad thighs.

Harry thought that it was quite the treat to get a feel of and his mind ran wild with thoughts of what he wanted to do with these legs, these delicious legs. He could touch and feel them for hours on end, that much was for sure. A smile crossed his face as he subtly ran his hand over him.

"The females at the Church are at your disposal, to offer you relief when you need to," she said as she leaned forward, allowing Harry to see a view of her cleavage. Her large breasts were pressed together and Harry felt the pants he wore get tight.

"You know, there's never enough girls at my disposal," Harry remarked.

"You speak with wisdom, Har-Rell," she said with a smile. "Anyone who wishes to limit themselves must not have the strength to handle one, never mind several."

Harry smiled, he was sure that some people were not going to share that opinion but he thought their opinion was irrelevant.

He made his move, daring and bold but he would not be Har-Rell if he did not make a bold and daring move. Faster than a speeding bullet he grabbed Lillandra around the waist and pushed her onto the desk, pinning her down and kissing her madly.

Lillandra envisioned this for years naturally, she had to restrain herself not to jump Harry when he walked in here the first time. She was pleased that he made the first play.

Very pleased as she felt his hardening length push against her thigh and the arousal increase.

**Smut/Lemon Begins.**

-PROFILE-

**Smut/Lemon Ends.**

Lillandra was on the desk, her brains essentially fucked out and she was perfectly okay with this state that her master had left her in.

She looked up at him, with a smoldering grin on her face.

"Bring Jean next time, I have a certain fantasy that I wish to live out," Lillandra encouraged him. Harry thought that was an enticing fantasy as well, so he was inclined to indulge her.

"But on another day, perhaps, oh that felt good," Lillandra managed as she felt better than ever before. A bit sore but on the whole, she was more than refreshed. Even if it was a laborious process to keep her head held up straight.

Harry smiled, he was looking forward to it.

* * *

Eddie Brock was tossing and turning in his sleep, muttering about how it had forsaken him. He was sweaty, clammy and cold. The young man tossed and turned and looked up with blood shot eyes.

"No, I must have it, it loves me, it loves me, no one else loved me, it loved me, no one less loved me, it loved me," Brock rambled as he shivered. He hated Arcane for his act of Superdickery, taking his precious symbiote away from him. He rocked back and forth, he missed its tender embrace and those hot nights between the two of them. It was the only thing that ever loved him.

Cletus, on the other hand, looked peaceful and tranquil. There were periods that he got like this, but never so serious. He was lying on the bed, looking up at the ceiling, almost like he was a hallow shell, peaceful and serene.

"No, no, must have it back, must have it, must have, must have, oh must have," Brock babbled as he kept rocking himself back and forth, trying to get some kind of peace but with the position that he was in, there was really no peace for him to obtain.

"Kasady, it's time to report for your weekly evaluation."

Cletus did not respond, rather he kept looking up at the ceiling, his eyes blank and vapid.

"Kasady, you need to….step back!"

The two brave men, although two brave men who were armed and armored, stepped into the cell. Protocol demanded they check on a patient when they didn't respond.

Kasady did not say anything as they tried to grab him. In fact, he crumbled into a pile of dust, nothing but a dried out husk. The guards stood mouths agape as one of them got on a walky talky.

"Lock down the building, Cletus Kasady has escaped, I repeat Cletus Kasady has escaped!"

The guards wondered if he was even here in the first place. The search was on.

_**To Be Continued.**_


	8. Chapter 8: Crash Landing in Paradise

**Chapter 8: Crash Landing in Paradise. **

"Well, just think about this way, a lot of these females that you hang around with, have sex appeal in spades," Janet Van Dyne said to Harry Potter as she walked alongside him in the lower level of Avengers tower. She was pleased that the young hero was even giving her the time a day, a lot of people tended to look down on her due to her interest in fashion. Conveniently, forgetting that she held two PhD's in her own right and she'd gotten them at a young age. "If there's a fashion line based off of them, imagine how well it'd sell. I mean, there's a lot of fashion lines that are sold by snooty celebrities that don't care about their fans, only their money, so a bunch of girls who save the world every other day might be a hit."

"Just every other day?" Harry inquired with a raised eyebrow.

Jan looked flushed but she recovered quickly, offering a smile as she amended her statement. "Okay every day….well sometimes for the Avengers, it's about three times before Breakfast, but you know how it goes. It wouldn't be a day in the life of a super hero without some exciting adventure."

Harry was thinking seriously about the clothing line to be honest. It was something that would help with mutant-human relations. To be fair though since he neutered Creed, the group that cannot be called the Friends of Humanity for copyright reasons, had been rather quiet. Harry was not sure exactly what was going on there, but he was prepared to deal with any issues from Creed as they popped up.

"Maybe we can talk about it later? Just the two of us, over lunch," Jan suggested, then she realized how needy that sounded and cringed. Sure, after her relationship with Hank. Well, it wasn't a relationship per say given that it barely got off the ground and was more like a one sided crush. But still it was something that left a sour taste of her mouth with how he left, buggering off to the west coast without even saying a word to her. She did take a very short leave of absence to sort out her thoughts but now that she was back, she could get back on the horse and Harry was pretty much the definition of a thoroughbred stallion. "I mean, it's only if you want to, I know someone like you…had got be busy, very busy."

Harry smiled. "Well, I can get pretty busy yes, but never too busy to have a lunch date with a beautiful and vivacious young woman like yourself….unless it's not really a date?"

"Well, it's a date in the sense that we're having a meeting. We're two consenting adults wanting to get together with each other, you know for lunch?" Jan said as she rocked a bit back on her feet and twitched nervously. "Oh boy, my face is red, isn't it?"

Harry smiled one of those smiles at her which caused her to shift nervously. "Just a little bit, yes."

Jan sighed as she kept her mind on the situation at hand. "Still, you know this will be a good thing, for business and you know….the two of us, we can do something better, the two of us."

"Yes, I know," Harry retorted with a smile, as he allowed Natasha to save Jan from digging her hole even deeper.

"SHIELD wants to have a word with you," Natasha said as she stood before him. She leaned towards Harry and whispered in his ear. "Any idea what you did wrong?"

Harry shrugged with a confused look on his face. "Not a clue, not a clue at all."

"Well they haven't told me. I just figure that you might know more than anyone else," Natasha informed Harry with a shrug as she watched the young man. There were times where he was extremely difficult to read. The wizard was someone who even she could not get a fix on and she prided herself on her ability to read people.

Then again, there were times where Natasha had to wear a certain mask to function in life. The redhead smiled at the thought as she led Harry to the transport vehicle.

Harry wondered if this had to deal with the alien invasion incident. He figured that somehow it would be his fault, it always was his fault or maybe it wasn't his fault, maybe they wanted information. Either way, he would find out shortly.

"They're being very secretive, even for SHIELD, aren't they?" Harry asked Natasha and the redhead looked at him, with a slight smile and a nod.

"Yes, and that's extremely annoying," Natasha said as she rolled her head back and offered a long sigh. The redhead knew that they were going to be in for a long day. She hadn't seen Fury in a few weeks either, which made her wonder what exactly was going on with SHIELD.

Harry could tell that there was something more to this then met the eye and he smiled. "Tell me about it?"

"I believe I just did," Natasha stated as she leaned her shoulders back and piloted Harry to the nearest SHIELD base. It was where they arranged to meet as opposed to heading over to the Hellicarrier.

The ship landed just outside of the SHIELD base and Harry exited, then Natasha led him towards the building proper swaying her ass all the while since he was behind her and she thought that she might as well give him a show. He saw Jessica standing outside near the door waiting for them and she greeted him with a smile.

"Hi, Harry," Jessica greeted him and then she frowned. "So what brings you here?"

Harry looked at the young woman before him and shrugged. "I really have no idea; I guess I'm going to find out before too long. SHIELD's called me here, so it could be any number of things."

"Well, it would get Fury to break his silence, he hasn't been seen in a while," Jessica stated and Natasha offered her a warning gaze. "Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't supposed to say anything about that."

"I guess you weren't," Harry said as he looked at Jessica who shrugged her shoulders and tried to become more businesslike.

Natasha knocked on the door in the exact rhythm that had been agreed upon. There was a few seconds where there was a pause and there was a sense that the door was not going to open. Perhaps she did it wrong?

A dark haired woman greeted them. She had a short haircut that went down to her shoulders. Her blue eyes gazed forward with determination, and she wore a black body suit that wrapped snugly around her curves. Harry knew that it was SHIELD standard issue, but still, it looked nice on her. It curved around her D Cup breasts, showcased her flat stomach to the point where Harry could get a sense of her assets without X Ray Vision, and finished things off by offering a view of her nice ass and her long legs skin tight bodysuit as she turned around to face them.

"Agent Maria Hill," Harry said with a smile.

Maria looked at him and shook her head. "Acting Director Hill, actually."

"So Fury's disappeared off of the map…."

"Nick Fury is taking some much deserved time off," Maria said to him diplomatically and Harry wondered about that.

He was going to let it go, at least for now. However, if Nick Fury just randomly up and took a vacation, Harry would eat Fury's eye patch. The wizard's smile grew wider as he responded in such a way that it appeared he knew more then what he thought that they were letting on. Well actually, know, might be a word that didn't adequately describe what was happening. Rather Harry suspected more then what was going on but that was beside the point.

"So, why did you decide to bring me here?" Harry asked as he gave the woman one of those charming Harry Potter smiles. He wanted to make it difficult for her to focus on the situation, because that was just the kind of mood that he was in. He could see Maria become rather flustered, then she stood up straighter than before and managed to get to business.

"We found this device outside of Vegas, in the desert," Maria said as she flipped open a mysterious black box with strange markings in her hand.

'_Always goes back to the desert in Vegas,' _Harry thought to himself in thinly veiled amusement. Then again, that's the way things went. Still the wizard decided to voice the one statement that burned on the tip of his tongue.

"And judging by the fact that you can't get it working….you need my help, right?" Harry said to her.

Maria knew that SHIELD was not the only one who was unable to get it working. Stark was unable to get it working, Richards, some of their best scientific minds were unable to even scratch the surface, crack the code, even get a blip from it on their sensors. Hell, Banner had tried smashing it without any success.

"Well, we were hoping…."

Harry did not recognize it off hand although he would find out.

"I'll see what I can do," Harry said as he figured this technology could be extremely valuable or really dangerous or both. "I'll let you know. I have a team that deals with these kind of things."

"It's appreciated….and I hope to find out more about you...it, more about it," Maria stated as she watched Harry trying to pass off her slip up as nothing more than a misspoken word. She had only glimpsed him a few times in passing and exchanged maybe a couple of sentences with him total but this was the first time she had any sort of extended interaction with him.

'_And you were just looking for an excuse to see him more often. Don't try to be high and mighty about it, Maria,' _Natasha thought to herself in amusement.

Harry had to take the box, whatever it was, back to RAO. It could be something rather high tech and he wanted to crack the code.

SHIELD had their own problems to deal with after the invasion. It was not something that they could completely cover up and people feared the fact that there might be aliens among us. If the mutant situation wasn't bad enough, this was.

* * *

"So how valuable is this?" Lana asked Harry after he joined her in her office at the RAO corporation tower, a smile on his face as he leaned against the wall.

"Oh, it's extremely valuable," Harry told her as he ran his fingers over it. It would have to be valuable, otherwise SHIELD would not have wanted to get their hands on it at all. That much Harry could take to the bank. The wizard kept his eyes focused on the mysterious box, trying to figure out what it was. So far, there was nothing, at least nothing tangible. He intently studied it never the less.

"And how valuable is…."

"Rare," Faora chimed in as she walked over and eyed the box. Karen followed behind her, the two girls moving closer to Harry so they could take a closer look.

"How rare is…."

"Very rare," Faora interrupted and Karen turned around to properly face Harry.

"It is a catalog of all of the technological achievements made by every single planet in the Twenty Eight known galaxies, along with a brief back story of them all," Karen said to Harry who smiled at her.

"Doesn't the Fortress…."

"The Fortress….yes I'm certain its extensive," Faora admitted. Say what you would about Jor-El and Faora could say plenty about him, but the man knew a fair bit about technology. That much was certain and Lara added onto what he knew, given that he had certain blind spots in what he deemed to be unimportant.

"When Lara built the Fortress, I think she incorporated a lot of it but the records were lost," Karen continued to explain. "She had to piece together what she could find. There was a mass burning of records about a hundred years before the destruction of Krypton. What the Council deemed to be nonessential information."

"Of course, she mentioned that," Harry agreed in remembrance that as he nodded towards Faora and Karen.

"Yes, she would. My mother….well she was pissed off about it, because she thought that knowledge should be freely given and the government should not hide the truth. No matter how damning it might be to the governments of Krypton," Karen continued, although she had no idea how the Alura in this universe acted.

Lana was awestruck and she felt that she was out of her depth sometimes. Granted, she had been allowed in on a lot of secrets but there were some things that she still didn't know. She was just along for the ride a lot of the time or so it seemed. The woman shook her head and brought herself back to life with those thoughts.

"So we've got this….well we've got this," Karen stated as she looked over it.

"Now it's just a legend. So keep in mind the validity of it and who I learned it from," Faora added as she offered a scant thought that Harry picked up.

'_My cold bitch of a mother,' _Faora thought to herself.

'_Well, her and Zod are in the Phantom Zone,' _Harry thought to her.

'_Wait…you can….of course you can,' _Faora thought as she closed her mind. _'Well, I guess I better keep those vivid fantasies I've been having to myself.'_

'_No, do share, __they'll be fascinating to enact,' _Harry thought to her.

Faora remained silent, to Karen's amusement, as were a couple of girls who had popped onto the bond link.

"Well in that case, we're going to have to make them a reality sooner or later," Faora said as she shook her head to clear her thoughts.

Lana smiled as she brushed a stray lock of hair from her face. She was rather amused by the antics that were going on around her, but she had to focus on the matter at hand.

"So, the energy project….it's progressing well. All of the issues were ironed out after the initial trial," Lana informed Harry, as she set the necessary documents out in front of him.

Harry took the documents for her and nodded as he read through it. This energy project, controversial as some might deem it, it was going to be something that was going to help a lot of people. He could not wait to figure out how everything was going to come together in the end.

"You've done good work Lana, as always. You deserve a reward," Harry said as she smiled and placed her hands on her hips.

"Oh, what are you…."

Harry threw his arms around Lana and she took the hint, pushing herself onto his lap. The office was closed; this was technically a bit after office hours all things considered. Still Harry had Lana draped over his lap.

The redhead leaned over and kissed him hard on the lips, with Harry returning it eagerly. Shifting backwards onto her feet the redhead grabbed him by his shirt, pulled him up so he was standing and then turning so he was back against the edge of his desk pushed him back onto it. Before, she straddled in him again her legs wrapping around his waist. The two of them indulged themselves in their passions as their tongues danced together once more as they renewed the kiss.

Faora and Karen watched the situation happening before them with laser-like focus, if they had be honest, both of them were getting a bit stirred up because of it.

"I think we should keep ourselves occupied, and then we'll join them," Karen stated to Faora and the dark haired woman offered her a smile.

"Oh, I'm sure that you have a few ideas," Faora remarked and Karen smiled back at the woman.

"I just might," Karen agreed as she pushed Faora back and the blonde kissed her lips. Faora was caught off guard by this brazen and quite welcomed action but she knew there was only one thing to do.

It was the type of kiss that got a woman's toes to curl. The dark haired woman returned it with hungry desire, their tongues dancing back and forth between their moves as they fought for dominance.

Meanwhile Harry had Lana pinned down upon the desk and at his mercy. Being pinned underneath Harry, that was a feeling that Lana enjoyed beyond measure and the woman let out a panting moan of pleasure into the kiss they shared. The real fun was about to begin.

**Smut/Lemon Begins.**

-PROFILE-

**Smut/Lemon Ends.**

Harry looked at the carnage that he left in his wake on the desk, smiling at a job well done. Karen was snuggled against his waist and Faora was on the floor, practically wrecked from his efforts. Lana was out for the count as well.

Harry patted himself on the back, a job well done for sure.

* * *

"I don't think any of us can deny that they're a spirited group," Dinah stated, with a smile crossing her face as she leaned back against the wall, talking to Harry after another training session. "You've done a good job with them, but some of them…."

"They have a very long way to go, believe me, I know," Harry told Dinah with a smile that got even wider. The blonde woman nodded then stretched her arms carefully, wanting to work out any kinks that might be forming in her back.

"Well, it's good that you have an accurate assessment on how far they have come but…." Dinah started but Harry locked eyes onto her. "You know this better than I do. Don't you? Because you're the one that's trained them, most of them from the very beginning."

"I can tell that you've trained a lot as well. You know quite a lot about different fighting styles," Harry stated and Dinah smiled brightly at him.

Dinah was still trying to figure out what the game was, with Harry Potter, but one thing was for certain. It seemed to be an extremely interesting one. She was avoiding bringing up certain points because they just seemed to be improper, at least for now.

"It's been a while since I've had a good spar," Harry said as he looked at Dinah with a smile.

"Well, I'm not going to go easy on you because you're my boss," Dinah warned him and Harry smiled before he brought up the obvious point.

"Well if you went easy on me, that would be a good reason to fire you, now wouldn't it?" Harry asked the woman and Dinah's eyes widened as she offered a nod. Harry and her were about to go face to face, ready to go a few rounds with each other. To say that there was tension, well that would be putting things mildly. "I must warn you. I'm not going to go easy on you either."

Dinah's smile grew wider as she focused on Harry. "That's good because if you did go easy on me, you just know that I'd kick your ass even harder, don't you?"

Harry offered her a smile as she removed her jacket, to reveal her slender arms. She was dressed in a one piece that really showed off her curves and nice frame.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm ready to throw down and go a few rounds if you are," Dinah stated to Harry and she caught a look in the eyes of this young man before her, it was one that sent shivers down her spine. The woman lifted her head up and narrowed her eyes at him as she dropped into a ready stance. "So, Best Two Out of Three?"

"If you want to," Harry agreed with her as he fell into a ready stance of his own and she tried for a kick immediately but he blocked it.

He blocked it with amazing reflexes and she then used her legs to take him down. Harry had to admit that getting taken down by her was not the worst fate in the world.

"So, you are a little rusty, aren't you?" Dinah asked and Harry smiled.

"Just getting a feel for you," Harry said. Sometimes, one needed to get their ass handed to them a little bit to get the feel of the enemy. The two of them watched each other closely, getting a feel for how the other fought. The two of them locked narrowed eyes and circled carefully, preparing themselves for the next move.

Dinah aimed a kick towards him but Harry blocked the attack. She snapped up and nailed Harry with a huge kick to the face on the rebound.

She jumped up into the air and went for a punch at the top of his head but Harry avoided it, using his feet to block the attack. She pushed back and Harry launched himself into the air.

Dinah quickly turned around but it was a fake out as Harry was underneath her. She figured that out a few seconds later as her legs were swept out from underneath her. The blonde fell head over heels with Harry going down underneath her. The blonde's legs swung at Harry but he avoided it by sliding underneath it with swift precision.

Dinah's eyes followed his progress with an awed expression on her face and she let out a slight whistle.

"You're quick on your feet," Dinah commented as she aimed a palm thrust but Harry dodged it with a smile. She saw his green eyes fix on her as he studied her movements. She had to vary them up because she figured that he studied her body language. "But are you quick to tire out?"

"Well, wouldn't you like to know?" Harry asked as Dinah moved towards him and went for another attack. The blonde's intention flashed through her eyes and Harry being able to read it, used that information to counter her next strike.

The blonde's legs were swept out from underneath her again and Harry used that fact to put her into a pinning position. He grabbed her by the arms and pinned her to the ground with swift precision. Dinah struggled underneath him, her young body writhing underneath him as she tried to break the hold and he smiled.

"Not too bad. Ready for another round?" Dinah offered Harry who responded with a grin.

"Is that code for the fact that I handed you your ass?" Harry asked her with a cocky smile on his face and Dinah shook her head.

"Just getting warmed up Harry. Trust me," Dinah told Harry and there was a second where she studied him. It was sometimes a good idea to get your ass kicked once to get a better feel for an enemy so you could take him down later.

Dinah sprang up into a battle stance and the two circled each other. They threw swift kicks at each other, bouncing back and forth as they jockeyed for position. Both of them were trying to get to a dominant position and trying to psyche each other out. Circling each other warily as they waited for the right moment.

Harry flipped over Dinah's head. It was an unnecessary action but one that might distract some opponents because they were too busy watching the acrobatics to react properly. Dinah was not one of those people. She waited for Harry to land on the ground.

The moment he did she went for him. Ducking her head and rolling but Harry caught her by the legs. She kicked away but Harry was sure to slide out of the way before she nailed him in the face.

Dinah slipped out of the attack and grabbing him by the arm used a judo throw to take him down. She used his own momentum against him, taking him down to the ground hard.

The wizard smiled at her, his eyes were rather predatory and gave the impression he was ready to pounce on her.

"I believe that's one to one," Harry commented to the blonde, there was just a feeling of excitement to the fact that he lost a sparring session. He had not lost anything along those lines in a while, so he had no reason to get better. It was great that he had met someone who could challenge him and he got off on that fact.

"Are you ready?"

Dinah asked that question and Harry gave her a smile as he kept a careful watch on her, he lifted his hand forward in the universal gesture to bring it. Dinah took a step forward and aimed a roundhouse kick but Harry crouched down to dodge her foot before it impacted the side of his face.

The two of them went at each other, punch for punch, shot for shot, both of them trying to take each other down. After losing a round a piece so far, both of them had something to prove and neither was going to back down. They circled each other, eyes on the other.

"Come on, again!" Dinah stated as she slipped out of his grip and once again braced herself for another attack.

She went for another take down but this time Harry blocked it and grabbed her from behind. Harry applied a full nelson to Dinah but since he didn't get his fingers properly locked, Dinah slipped out. The blonde went towards him aiming a punch at his midsection but Harry blocked it.

His body was up close against hers and pushing against it but she fought back with an intense motion, flipping herself over him.

Harry smiled, glad that he did not have to rely on his powers. Dinah flipped into the air but Harry caught both of her feet and prepared for the follow up.

Dinah gave a grimace as Harry held her up and slammed her down. The blonde grimaced as she hit the ground and Harry took complete advantage of the fact he had her down on the ground, pinning her quickly before she could recover.

Dinah closed her eyes as she felt Harry up next to her in a very sensual position and the blonde was about to push out of his attack but Harry kept her pinned to the ground.

"Good fight, looking forward to the return match, maybe it can come from a different angle next time," Harry whispered in her ear and Dinah squirmed before she let her breath.

"I….I need to go and take a shower, it's been a long day," Dinah stammered as she thought that she had been working too hard. Her body was playing a lot of tricks on her and she felt her nipples stiffen under her top and a warmth spreading between her thighs.

Harry sensed her arousal for him but backed off with a smile. She hadn't cooked enough yet. "You do that; I need to talk to another guest."

Dinah smiled, and got up, which allowed Harry to get a nice view of her ass as she walked off. Instinctively or perhaps on purpose, she swayed her hips.

Harry smiled as he made his way down the hallway, walking with a purpose. The wizard kept going until he reached his destination. He saw a woman standing inside clear crystal cell dressed in a black t-shirt and blue jeans with red hair. The most peculiar thing is that she had blue skin and she looked at Harry with narrowed gold colored eyes.

"So, now I'm in your debt," Mystique said in a crisp voice as she stared down Harry.

"Given that you did what you could to undermine Magneto and Sinister, you should know that I'm taking every single precaution in the world with you," Harry told the shape shifter with a calm tone. "This cell has every protection known to man and some not know to them. I actually reversed the spell weeks ago, but I was trying to figure out exactly what to do with you."

"I'm not one of your little girls that go star struck over the legend of the Star Child, Har-Rell," Mystique said, although with the way she made that statement, Harry very much figured that she was trying to convince herself of this.

"Right. If you say so, Raven," Harry said to her with a smile, using her given name to let her know who was in control here. "You're going to do this the easy way or the hard way."

"So, you're going to give me a choice," Mystique scoffed, disbelief in her eyes.

"Just so you know, the Brotherhood? I took their powers away," Harry told the woman evenly as he held his hands together and peered in her face without blinking. "I can do the same thing to you and turn you over to SHIELD."

Harry had no intention of doing that, but never the less, it achieved the desired results of getting her thinking.

"If it was Xavier, I wouldn't believe it, if it was his boy scout, I wouldn't believe it. You? I believe it," Raven said. "What's the alternative?"

"You work for me. If you betray me, then all bets are off," Harry said to her.

"You should have left me entombed in stone," Raven said as she stared him down but Harry smiled at her.

"Raven, Raven, Raven, you're a valuable asset. You've seen things that most people would not survive long enough to tell the tale for," Harry informed her with the smile crossing his face. "The easy way or the hard way. You make the choice."

"So, I work for you or I become a human and be at the mercy of Fury," Raven told him. To some the choice seemed obvious but the woman wanted to be difficult and milk it.

"And if you try anything, anything at all. I will shut you down," Harry warned her with narrowed glowing red eyes. "I'll give you some time to think. Food will appear in here at meal times. I suggest you eat it."

There was a few seconds where neither said anything.

"Think hard now," Harry said one final time and he disappeared.

* * *

"So this is a live training run? I can't wait for it!" Amara stated in an excited voice. She was technically the senior member of the team going, other then Harry of course, so she was excited. The woman's eyes flashed with amusement as she sat next to Kory, Laura, M'Gann, and Harry, with Zinda being the one flying the plane.

"First, we're going to make a stop at Nova-Roma, there are some things that we need to take care of," Harry said to her.

Amara nodded, with her father on his death bed and just barely hanging on by a thread. Harry needed to make sure everything was in order. Given his bond to her and ahead of that his bond to Selene as the royal family ruled at her leisure, he was the heir to the throne. He was not quite in the ground yet so they would have to wait.

"We're flying over restricted airspace, so we better be careful," Harry whispered to them all and Zinda nodded.

"I'll put the plane in stealth mode," the woman said as she steered the plane and tried to keep it below radar level

"That would be appreciated," Harry told her as he folded his seat back. He had to keep calm but there was a twitch in the back of his head.

He had to try, although he sensed something at the edge of his vision that was glowing in the air. There was some kind of mystical energy that was flowing around them that was extremely off putting and it caused Harry's nerves to be on a hair trigger. The wizard tried to relax.

"We only have three more minutes before we make it safely there," Zinda informed him as she faced front but there was a beeping sound that indicated something was extremely wrong.

"Perhaps it is different on Earth but when something starts beeping, that's normally not a good thing, is it?" Kory asked Harry and the wizard shook his head, a frown appearing on his face.

"It's not a good thing on any planet, and….it's not a good thing when there's something coming in fast behind us," Harry breathed heavily. He could have cursed his luck, it seemed to be pretty bad today. He looked at everything was happening around him and he closed his eyes in frustration.

There were several missiles flying at the plane and the computer indicated there was going to be multiple impacts even if Zinda went into evasive maneuvers. The shields were not holding up as they should.

"We have a shield mode on this thing, right?' M'gann asked and Harry nodded.

However, they had not had a chance to test it in a high stress, high tension situation, like nearly having something impact the side of the ship. Which was happening right around now and they kept hitting the side of the ship. Harry got up to his feet and tried to assess what he had to do in case things got ugly.

The field trapped them inside the ship and he was now trying to figure out a way to break the field without cracking the ship open.

"Steer it as far as way you can…."

Zinda managed to avert the missiles; it had been a long time she had been in such a high stress situation. No one should have even been able to see the plane to fire on it but yet they were firing on it.

Harry pushed open a slit on the side of the wall; he was going to give these people a hint why it was not a good idea to fuck with him when he was flying a plane. He squinted his eyes and sent a solid glowing jet of his heat vision which impacted with one of the missiles causing it to split in two as it cut right through it.

Said missile blew up into smithereens a moment later. Harry smiled as he felt like he hit it nicely. The wizard pushed himself back for a few seconds as he took stock of the current situation.

A second weapon was deployed and it went flying towards the edge of the ship.

Laura, who had been mostly quiet since this started, unsheathed her claws. "Whoever is trying this, they're seriously asking for one, aren't they?"

"Yes, yes, they are," Harry agreed, as he wondered who could be causing this, but these people, whoever they are, they were seriously pissing him off. And a pissed off Harry Potter was not someone who was fun to deal with at all. The emerald eyed wizard intently studied the situation.

If he could find out where precisely these missiles were being fired from, he might have a better shot at resolving this quickly. Of course, there were some things that were far easier said than done and when the dust settled. The fact of the matter was that they were going down. Despite everything, despite it all, the wizard knew one thing.

They were in for that bumpy landing and that was underlined further when the missile connected with the hull.

"We've been hit!" Amara yelled at the top of her lungs, losing her head in the moment but Harry grabbed her around the hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Yes, I know, don't worry, I'll do what I can to repair things enough to make a mostly safe landing," Harry grumbled. He wondered whatever weapons that these people had, if they had some kind of supernatural qualities, because that was pretty much the only reason why they even damaged the high tech vessel.

He could worry about the how's later, right now, he had to worry about getting everyone safely down without a scratch.

That was something that was easier said than done, but determination flooded through his eyes. He refused to give up because that was the type of person that he was, extremely stubborn and extremely unwilling to give up. The wizard turned to his pilot.

"Zinda, see that island there in the mist?" Harry asked her urgently.

"Yes, yes, I do," Zinda confirmed but there was no need for Harry to say more because the woman knew precisely what he was going to do. It was the only thing that they could do, at this current point.

Laura closed her eyes, healing factor or not, Harry's shields protecting them or not, this was going to have the potential to suck when they crashed onto the ground.

Going in the water might be good but with the damages, the navigation system was going to be a bit screwed up. It was obvious that they would be running a bit late to Nova-Roma. Harry kept himself focused on the situation in front of him.

* * *

There was an island hidden from the rest of the world. This island could only be accurately described as one thing and that was Paradise. It was an island of majesty and an island of wonder, that many spoke of with endearing terms. Although it was only a legend to some, it was obvious that every legend had some measure of truth to it, at least if people were willing to believe strongly enough in them.

And this was a legend that many people believed in, mark the words of everyone on the island. This legend was that of the mysterious and fabled person that was spoken of in the grandest of whispers.

"Diana, honestly, do you believe these legends?"

This question was asked by a young girl with amazing jet black hair and alluring blue eyes. Her face was that of an angel, a true gift from the goddesses above. She had rosy red lips and was currently wearing a black toga that wrapped snugly around her sixteen year old frame. She had a nice set of D Cup breasts, looking like a budding model with her flat stomach, delicious rear, and long luscious stems. She looked at the statue that was before her with curiosity.

Of course, if she was beautiful, then her sister next to her, she was drop dead gorgeous. She had all of the features that women would die for. The alluring blue eyes, the rosy red lips, the silky black hair. Her face was that of elegance but there was a fire and determination in her eyes that could not be beaten. She wore a white toga and a tiara. The toga wrapped around her large and bountiful breasts, in fact the fabric strained against them. It parted at the bottom to reveal her long and beautiful legs, along with her delicious rump, something that she caught many of her sisters staring at with at envy.

"The Legend of the Star Child…yes Donna, I believe it," Diana responded firmly as she looked at her sister and saw the skepticism that flashed through her eyes. "I know it might seem a little farfetched."

"Yes, just a little bit," Donna muttered as she rolled her eyes.

Diana resembled a woman in her early twenties but given the wisdom and maturity of the Amazons around her, she was practically a teenager in many ways. Time did not pass on this island as it did in the real world. Years seemed to pass for every day, although sometimes it was far more time and sometimes it was far less time.

Magic was something that was difficult to explain even though some tried to explain it. Often times to the point where their head exploded.

"He was a man, who visited the island…."

"And they say he's going to return one day," Diana picked up, her mother had told her of the legend when she was barely young enough to remember much more than that. The Amazon Princess wondered if some day this mysterious god from the stars, empowered by the sun, would come down and sweep her off her feet.

The Amazons barely ventured into Man's World, only once every fifty or so years, to update their libraries and learned of what was happening in the world beyond their shores. After all knowledge was power. They also collected women who had been lost and injured to bring to their island. Some were formed from the fallen forms of women who had suffered in life. The goddesses had been very particular on how they did such things but they said that once the Star Child returns, they should open up the island to him.

Donna watched for the sky. It was a peaceful day, there was not a cloud in the sky, and it was the perfect day to be alive. It was also one of those days where it was the closest where one might consider to be a perfect day period. Of course, that was not a term that Donna would throw around lightly but there was just something about this day that made her smile.

The Star Child Legend was something that she had been mulling over in the back of her mind ever since she first heard it. It seemed a bit farfetched that there was one man who could please that many women. Granted, it would be the thing of the wet dreams of many women, hers including, but the fact of the matter was, that it seemed to be kind of far-fetched.

Donna bit down on her lip, swaying her hips as she moved nervously. "So, when does he make his triumphant return to sweep us off of our feet?"

Diana was prompt to answer. "It was said to be soon, thousands of years after he landed the first time. He might already been here and have not found his way to the island yet."

'_Sure, Diana, sure,' _Donna thought to herself as she rolled her shoulders back and sighed. _'The Star Child is going to just drop out of the sky at our feet, I swear, sometimes you believe the most outlandish things.'_

There was a loud bang above them and the two Amazons looked up, their eyes wide as they followed the progress of something up in the sky. There was what appeared to be a vessel of some sort. It was glowing but it looked to be damaged.

"Donna, get back!" Diana yelled to her sister and there was a few seconds where Donna paused, watching.

She obeyed her sister for once in her life, taking a step back and that was done just in time. The ship was flying, spiraling out of control and then the ship landed right before their feet with a solid explosion that rattled around them.

Diana took a tentative step forward and the ship opened before her.

"Hera," Diana breathed as she looked from the man who exited the ship right at their feet, and also at the statue of the monument that was built for the Star Child.

The resemblance was uncanny.

"Who are you?"

Harry exited the ship and there was a group of women who stepped forward, they were armed. The other occupants of the ship exited.

"Hmm, looks like they might be hostile," Kory suggested as she watched them with nervousness.

"Good, could use a fight," Laura commented as she cracked her knuckles.

Harry stepped out of the ship and they all saw the symbol, the "S" symbol on his jacket. All of the Amazons dropped to their knees before him.

"Well, that was unexpected," M'Gann stated as she tried to figure out what was happening.

"Actually, it's very expected," Amara corrected as she realized exactly where she was after having a moment to clear her head.

**To Be Continued.**


	9. Chapter 9: Wonderous Part One

_Oh, I've been posting this series for a year on January 18th, haven't I? Well happy anniversary to me. _

**Chapter 9: Wonderous Part One. **

The Amazons were at ease, well they were more than at ease, but Harry was pleased that they were not attacking. His eyes flashed with a tiny bit of amusement as he saw these warrior women on the ground, bent at their knees, looking up towards him.

One of them in particular, the older dark haired one, stood out from the rest. She had a dignified regal quality to her bearing even while on her knees before him, that the others seemed to lack. It was a quality the younger dark haired Amazon next to her, which he guessed to be her younger sister, definitely lacked. Since at the moment she was rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

"You've returned, just like the Queen said you would," One of the Amazons breathed out in an awed voice as she looked up towards Harry, who stood up straighter upon hearing her words, his eyebrow raised in a perplexed manner.

"And here I was hoping for a fight," Laura whispered in disappointment to Harry and the two of them locked eyes on each other for a brief moment, before shrugging in confusion. They were still waiting for the other shoe would drop and see if they would attack.

"So, I have returned," Harry said as he stood up tall to face the Amazons. "I trust you've been waiting for my return a long time."

'_And you're so totally going to milk this, aren't you?'_M'gann questioned Harry in amusement and there was a brief shadow of a smile that went over Harry's face. '_Of course you are.'_

'_Why wouldn't I?' _Harry shot back with a question of his own, before he looked back towards the Amazons who had stood once more during his brief exchange with Laura and M'gann. Although, he suspected that he could convince them to kneel before him again quite easily. It really was an amazing sight, all things considered, to see them standing there in all their glory before him.

"So, you've returned to the island," Diana whispered as she watched him in something akin to awe. She always knew deep in her heart that he would someday. Seeing him now she couldn't help but smile widely in pleasure, her mother always told her he would and now it seemed her faith had been rewarded.

"Although, not in the way that I would have preferred," Harry said, inclining his head towards the wreckage of the plane and the Amazons most definitely understood his point.

"Yes, I can see that," Diana confirmed, she kept her voice even and respectful. She was none too surprised that the Star Child was with a group of attractive attentive females, the only thing that shocked her was that it appeared to be so few, there were only four of them! "Your craft…."

"Who would dare attack you, my lord?" One of the Amazons looking upon him in adoration asked. She was clenching her spear so tightly in her hand that her knuckles whitened and looked ready to attack the person who did this.

"That's a question that we hope to find out," Amara said as she stepped forward to face the group. "Princess Amara of Nova-Roma at your service."

"It's an honor to meet someone from such an amazing civilization. I am Princess Diana and this my sister, Princess Donna Troy. I welcome you to Themyscira," Diana said graciously then she leaned forward and hugged Arama warmly, which the Nova-Roman Princess returned with an equal amount of grace. After breaking the embrace, the two royals looked at each other respectfully as M'Gann, Laura, Zinda, and Kory all stood behind Harry, watching in the background.

"This was no accident," Zinda whispered to Harry and Harry nodded offering one statement that was crisp and concise.

"I know."

Harry knew, oh boy did he know but what he would do about it that was another matter entirely. The wizard's mind was going off in a few different places, as he was tried to figure out what to do next. He looked over his shoulder; there was a sense that everything was coming undone right now, although he could not figure out how.

'_Head's up everyone, whatever happened, it's far from an accident,' _Harry thought to M'gann who nodded.

She sensed something in the air, though what precisely that was? She really had no idea. The redhead tensed up a little bit as she looked over her shoulder and rocked back on her heels. There was a subtle thumping that got even louder whenever she tried to focus on it but it seemed to be lingering on the edges of her perception.

'_You're right Harry, I don't like it when you're right, you're right,' _M'gann commented as she continued to try and sense whatever was unnerving her.

"We won't be intruding upon your hospitality for too long. Only as long as we need to fix our ship, _although it would be a shame if I did not experience your island paradise_," Harry informed them, figuring that he could milk this situation for all it was worth and really get something out of this.

"And don't forget the monument they're likely to have with you," Amara reminded him.

Given many of the rumors that he heard about the Amazons, he was not sure if he believed a lot of it after being in their presence. He felt that he could only believe what he saw with his own eyes and heard with his own ears. Which was something he'd learned intimately from past experiences.

Diana, in particular, looked very eager to want to help and she watched Harry, nervously biting down upon her lip.

"Well, I'm sure….I'm sure this won't be a problem," Diana said to him, of course there was always a small doubt that this young man wasn't the Star Child. She didn't want to voice this doubt out loud and her mother would know if he was a farce. The Amazons would not be too happy if he was a farce, they had waited a very long time for his return and to found out he was a fraud would be a huge letdown.

Amara had a question for them all.

"Are the rumors true about men visiting the island being…."

"It's frowned upon but not unheard of," Diana informed the group as she looked over her shoulder to her fellow sisters, who all nodded.

There had been a handful of men here, a couple of them benevolent, a few of them less so but it had been a long time, a very long time.

"Its standard protocol. I hope you understand," Diana told Harry, who looked at her with a raised eyebrow as the two stared down each other. "My mother likely has been informed of the crash by someone already and given that I was out here, it's a wonder that she hasn't rushed out here to make sure that myself and my sister are safe."

Diana looked over her shoulder for emphasis but there was no one coming. The dark haired princess shrugged her shoulders as she looked towards Harry, there was an almost apologetic air in her eyes and to her manner.

"We must get permission from my mother for you to stay here," Diana told him before she added, as to not offend anyone. "We'll head there now, but I doubt that it will be a problem."

Harry smiled as he offered his arm to the Amazon Princess. "Lead the way, my fair lady."

Diana took it with a smile, feeling how strong his arm was. The Amazons by nature were no slouches in the strength department but Harry? He was in an entirely different league to them, and that was an amazing thing.

It was time to visit her mother to figure out this situation and hope that he was the real deal. If anyone would know, it would be the Queen of the Amazons.

If Diana read between the lines from the way she talked about him in the past, she thought that her mother must have met him and that thought was extremely interesting all things considered.

* * *

Whilst Diana led Harry up to the tower, Donna was left to hang out with the girls. Mostly with Amara, Kory, and M'Gann, as Laura had stepped off to the side. Her senses were going nuts and telling her that some kind of dangerous had had attacked their plane down that shouldn't have been there. Zinda tried to do what she could to salvage the ship and get it running again as soon as possible.

"So, Har-Rell….it's really him, isn't it?" Donna asked.

"Yes, he's the real deal," M'gann confirmed with a smile going across her face as she looked towards the younger Amazon princess for a reaction. She closed her eyes as she leaned back against a pillar. It had the same symbol that Har-Rell had on his person carved into it. The woman's smile grew even larger as she waited for the confirmation.

"So, it's him," Donna repeated, she wondered if her words this morning had drawn him to the island to so that he could personally make a believer of her.

"He is amazing," Kory told her in a gushing voice. "He can go for a really, really, really, really long time."

"Well, they do say that he's a great warrior," Donna stated with a smile on her face, his pursuits had been passed down from the ages of a long time again.

Kory frowned. "Well, I'm not sure calling him a warrior is the situation that I'm describing. However, I do know that he is quite gifted in the areas of carnal pursuits."

"Do you mean…."

"Sex, fornication, knocking boots together, fucking, do you need me to draw you a fucking diagram?" Laura asked as she sniffed the air but paused.

"Yes, I got it," Donna responded in an exasperated voice. "So what do you…."

"There's something that shot us out of the sky. There's a reason why this person did so. I doubt that he or she expected us to land here of all places," Laura explained to Donna bluntly and by extension the rest of the group.

"Perhaps it was the goddesses?" Donna suggested.

Laura shook her head; she scarcely believed that was the case though the more she thought about it, there would have to be some kind of divine intervention to bring the plane down. She was not one to believe in a higher power but she was the one to believe that someone was able to bring something down with some supernatural powers.

"The plane should not have been hit," Zinda told them after she examined the side of it. "The equipment on the inside, it works as it should."

"With the obvious exception of the plane not being able to fly," Laura said as she checked out the plane once more, looking quite pissed off with what happened.

"I think we caught her at a bad time of the month," Kory whispered.

"KORY!" Amara yelled in a scandalized voice as she looked at the woman.

"What did I say?" Kory asked with a shrug as the Nova-Roman Princess went completely red at the subject that the Tamaranian Princess brought up.

M'gann was slightly amused, although she figured that Earth taboos and biology were something that should not be brought up in polite company.

Laura looked around; so far she didn't see anything of note. Perhaps, she was trying to make something out of nothing or perhaps there was far more to this mess then met the eye. She would have to stick around and find out.

Impatiently, Donna tapped her foot on the ground, being younger than Diana, she was not used to being ignored.

"So you've talked about Har-Rell's stamina," Donna continued. She played with her Amazon sisters naturally before but she had never quite imagined doing such things with a man. She was intrigued about the possibilities, especially with Har-Rell, who had gorgeous green eyes, a tight muscular frame, and that beautiful dark hair that she felt she could run her fingers through endlessly.

Kory, being Kory, was not about to skimp on the praise or the details when it came to Har-Rell. "Well, our Star Child? He once ravished me for sixty three straight hours! It was amazing and I regret that I ran out of energy before we could get to the really good stuff."

Donna's eyes widened and she blinked, as her mouth opened and shut, sixty three hours straight!

Laura smiled, but did not say anything. She fucked Harry for a week straight in a time bubble once, because a healing factor worked wonders in making sure that a girl didn't tire out. Kara and Karen were obviously able to go about as long, if not longer, because of them being Kryptonians, but Rogue, Jean, and Kitty were able to keep up for a long time, due to both sheer seniority reasons and their biology being slightly altered the longer they spent in Harry's presence.

Those time dilation spells along with the dupes were a godsend; Because if it was not for them, they would spend all of their lives screwing each other in every way imaginable. Not that there was anything wrong with that, per say but Laura was just mentally checking off an observation.

"He's rumored to have come here, and made love to an entire army of Amazons, leaving them broken and drooling behind him," Donna whispered to the group, Diana and her mother had told her the stories.

M'gann knew that Harry had traveled through time. Selene's actions alone more or less confirmed it, since her entire life seemed to be focused around him. The most obvious of which was the creation of Nova-Roma, which went back six hundred years and they worshiped him as a god since day one. So that being said, the young Martian wondered about a lot of things that might have happened when he was here in the past.

Right now there were a few more questions than there were answers and Harry was the center of many mysteries that would be unraveled. His legend went far and wide throughout the universe and spread here to Earth.

* * *

Harry whistled as he beheld the Imperial palace before him. He did not impress easily but when he did, it was for a reason. The wizard walked next to Diana who stood shoulder to shoulder with him nearly matching him in height, which was impressive in its own right.

"It's a sight to behold," Harry stated as he allowed Diana to lead the way.

Perhaps, it was Diana's imagination but she could have sworn that Harry was talking about something else other than the Palace. Never the less, the Princess of the Amazons walked with the dignity and poise that was expected of someone of her stature. She turned her hips around slowly and continued to walk up the steps.

Sitting at the top of the steps was a regal woman that looked like she could be Diana's older sister. She had long black hair that was sleek and shiny. Her cheekbones were high and showed off her breeding. She peered towards Harry as she shifted her body. The dark haired Amazon watched the young man before her and her eyes widened for a few seconds as she took him in. She could scarcely believe Har-Rell was standing there before her and the woman's eyes went as wide as saucers.

The tight parts of her toga wrapped around her body. She had nice DD-Cup breasts, a flat stomach, a delicious rear, and long legs, along with sandals that covered the bottoms of her feet. She watched him with a smile across her face as she observed him with hunger dancing through her eyes.

"It's you," she whispered as she watched him with enticing sensations through her eyes.

He was right, he would meet her again. In fact he told her the exact day and the circumstances, even though from his perspective, it had not happened yet. So Hippolyta had to really be careful not to say anything, as the goddesses warned her not to tamper with the natural order of time. It was prudent to keep the timeline stabilized. The dark haired queen stepped down from her throne and she eyed her personal guard, all of them seemingly awe struck.

It was a sign of how often that this happened, that Harry was not that surprised. His green eyes fixed on the group of women who, except for Hippolyta, kneeled respectfully before him.

"Har-Rell, you've returned, as was foretold a long time ago," Hippolyta said to him in an appraising voice.

Harry's curiosity got the better of him as kept his eyes on the Queen of the Amazons. "Exactly how long are we talking about?"

Hippolyta smiled towards him. "A very long time, much longer then you could imagine."

"You'd be surprised as to what I can imagine," Harry countered and she raised an eyebrow towards him as she straightened her posture. It would be poor form to look anything but dignified.

The Queen of the Amazons walked down the winding set of stairs with a smile crossing her face as she kept her eyes locked onto her lord. She pulled him into a warm embrace and rested her forehead against his shoulder for a brief moment.

"An honor, it's always an honor," Hippolyta told him in a voice that dripped with admiration. As Harry returned the hug.

"Yes, it is, so you know it's me?" Harry questioned as Hippolyta pulled away then paused for a few seconds as she surveyed Harry.

"Believe me, it could be no else but you," Hippolyta said to the young man, a smile crossing her face as she looked him up and down committing every inch of him to her memory. "I'm not easily fooled and we have a history, as you will find out in time."

Harry could feel the familiar sensation of being undressed by a woman's eyes and once again, he was perfectly okay as well.

"Mother, there was an accident that brought Har-Rell here," Diana informed the queen, figuring that they should get to the point of the business.

Hippolyta placed a hand upon her chin and a thoughtful gaze locked onto the eyes of her daughter. The two of them peered back at each other and there were a few seconds before the Queen of the Amazons responded.

"This is a grave situation for certain," Hippolyta agreed as she pushed her hair back out of her face.

She was trying to piece together what happened. Of course each possibility offered tidings of doom more so than the rest. The dark haired Amazon queen locked eyes with those of her daughter and both of them were thinking that this was no accident.

"You made a few enemies when you were here last," Hippolyta informed Har-Rell rather bluntly as she broke eye contact with her daughter.

'_Given that I technically haven't been here yet, that's got to be a record,' _Harry thought to himself as he wondered about who he could have pissed off this time.

"And there are a few enemies who do not take past humiliation well," Hippolyta added to the young man before her and there was no mistaking how the serious the look in her eyes was.

Harry thought that if nothing else, that was the truth. The Queen of the Amazons paused.

"The goddesses are very particular about who we allow on our shores, especially men," Hippolyta told him as she placed her hands on the pedestal that she stood next to and she looked at Harry. "It's nothing to do with men, but a few…."

"Ruin it for everyone," Harry interjected wisely.

That was true, the minority was always someone that buggered a lot of things up for the majority and he continued to watch the Amazons in front of him.

"Naturally, you will be allowed upon the island, for you are adored by many, even the goddesses," Hippolyta added.

Harry suddenly smiled; perhaps he was jumping the gun with some of his assumptions. The wizard placed his hand on the back of his head, he was interested in seeing where this would lead.

"You and your guests will be able to stay here for as long as you wish," Hippolyta continued with a smile. "And we will help you investigate who brought you down."

"I'll show Harry to his room," Diana chimed in.

Harry was not going to say anything, although how eager she seemed had to make him smile.

"Lead the way," Harry offered taking Diana's hand in a strong grip and the two of them walked off with each other.

He would have to touch base with the other girls and send a message to the outside but that should not be a problem.

* * *

Diana did her best to try and keep her cool so after the initial shock of being exposed to such a living legend wore off, she was nothing but business. She was calm, cool, and collected. The Princess of the Amazon's offered a smile, being as cool as she could be. She stood there watching Harry who was looking over the edge of a cliff towards the sea for a moment.

Diana made her way over to join; her mother had taken her aside to give her a warning not to do anything to anger the star child. Even the Greek goddesses held him in high esteem so Diana did wonder what might have happened between them.

"I brought us something to eat," Diana said and she paused for a second before continuing. "Are you hungry?"

"Well, I would be a rude guest if I turned down such a treat," Harry replied as he looked over at Diana.

Harry took the sandwich that she offered him and ate it. "Thank you, delicious."

Diana smiled as she sat down next to him. "So, any luck in figuring out….how your plane got shot down?"

Harry shook his head in negative. "I wish I could figure out what was going on, but no, there's no sign of what shot us out down. You know its funny how nearly getting shot out of the sky worked up an appetite."

"You could have flown away at any time," Diana said gently as the two sat down to watch the stars. It was pretty early in the morning. The others were still in bed, well as far as Harry knew.

Diana on the other hand, being a trained warrior, had it ingrained in her to get up bright and early in the morning. That was something that was part of her spirit and she knew that those who got up bright and early would have the most success.

"I could have," Harry admitted to the Amazon and he took the drink that she offered him. It tasted heavenly. "But that would leave my girls as sitting ducks. Sure, they can take care of themselves but taking care of themselves is just going to attract an even higher class of enemy."

Diana laughed in amusement. Her mother had told her something similar about how the better you are, the better enemies you would attract. That's what made training a never ending cycle. "Yes, I know."

Diana felt the gap between her and Harry become even less. There were times where many of the Amazons thought about what they would do if they got the infamous Star Child alone. Some of them….well some of them had extremely vivid fantasies of what they would like to do. Diana would be lying if she was not one of these people who had such thoughts, so she admired herself for the immense amount of restraint that she was showing presently.

"It's beautiful out here isn't it?" Diana asked although she looked at him.

"I'm the first man you've ever meant, aren't I?" Harry asked her and Diana paused, looking surprised by that rather blunt question. By the standards of the Amazons, she was barely out of her teenage years and while she was fierce and determined by many means, she was still awkward in a few ways.

Diana managed to focused and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "How could you tell?"

Harry offered her a smile; it was one of those smiles that drove women wild. "It's just one of those crazy hunches that I have."

"Well, it wasn't that crazy," Diana stated to the dark haired wizard as she leaned back a slight bit and relaxed, but not for that long given what she had ahead of her.

"Early morning sparring practice, not something that I can miss," Diana commented as she heard the Amazons starting to go about their day. She smiled. "I remember one time when I tried to skip out on it, to go to the beach. I was young and it was a beautiful day."

Harry could not resist saying anything. "When isn't it a beautiful day on Paradise?"

Diana looked flushed and she amended her statement. "It does rain here you know? We actually get some pretty powerful storms, but that said it was more beautiful than usual."

"Okay, fair enough," Harry said and he waved his hand in a gesture for her to continue, which Diana took as her opportunity to do so.

"Anyway, I snuck off to the beach, it seemed like ages ago. I was about ready to have some fun, go for a swim, but then my mother showed up," Diana narrated as she had half of a smile, half of a wince over her face. She paused for the second before continuing. "She asked me if I thought that I knew everything that I had to learn, and offered me a deal. I could skip out on sparring practice for the next week…if I could beat her in battle."

Harry could figure out where this one was going and he had to smile about it. Diana had a smile about it as well, even though the memory was not so fun when she was living it. Still she could laugh about what happened in retrospect, even if her joints kind of ached for days after it happened. The dark haired Amazon rested back as she closed her eyes and the smile crossed her face.

"And that didn't end well," Diana stated as she remembered how her mother handed her a humiliating defeat in battle.

"Well, I think that you might have learned your lesson," Harry told Diana and she smiled at him.

"Yes, just a small one," Diana agreed as she felt Harry put his arm around her waist. Any other man in the world, she might have protested but her mind went into places that she could not protest about.

"Your mother sounds like a noble woman," Harry commented and Diana raised an eyebrow before she whistled calmly.

"That's high praise coming from you."

Harry turned around and saw Hippolyta standing there behind him watching the two of them with a surveying gaze.

"Mother, how long have you been there?" Diana asked the woman and Hippolyta smiled.

"Long enough, Diana, dear," the Queen of the Amazons informed her daughter as she looked at them. She stepped towards him. "Har-Rell, I have something that you must know, it is information that has been given by the goddesses."

"Oh, and what is that, your majesty?" Harry asked the woman and Hippolyta straightened up, a bold and brash expression in her eyes.

"There has been divine intervention, an old enemy….well a future enemy to you," Hippolyta warned him, showing how delicate the situation was.

Harry figured this out, Selene more or less spelled it out for him. Apparently, Harry was going to do a lot of time travel and inspire a lot of women. Of course, it could not be all sunshine and roses, he would also inspire enemies. Which he figured explained why Essex's had it out for him and Mystique seemed to hate his guts. Half the time from the way she acted around him, he got the impression he might have left her at the alter.

Enemies who were going to try and take him out for something that he never technically did or remembered doing yet, that became the rule rather than the exception. If that didn't describe the life story of Harry Potter in a nutshell, he did not know what did.

He had a few people that he needed to check in with, as no doubt those on the outside world would be worried but from what he could figure, time passed slowly on this island. It was not relative to what happened on the outside world.

That was the magic of magic after all.

* * *

'_Harry, what happened?' _Jean asked she could barely make out what was being said, although if she concentrated hard enough, she could.

It was true that she was able to lock onto the link in Harry's mind, but the echo was extremely faint. It took a lot of concentration for Jean to keep locked onto Harry's mind. The redhead was pretty much was swimming with frustration by this point.

Harry smiled, though it was extremely forced._'Your guess is as good as mine, Jean.'_

'_Well, I'm sure you're__ figuring something out...you didn't get kidnapped, did you?__' _Kitty asked.

'_If he did, whoever did it, is dead,' _Kara commented hotly through the bond link as she pushed her hands together and cracked her knuckles.

'_Kara, please calm down, you're giving me a headache,' _Rachel replied as she brushed her hands through her hair and sure enough, rage was not a pleasant emotion to experience for telepaths.

Harry offered a smile, although he was careful not to waste too much time._'__No, not kidnapped. Someone blew us out of the sky on our way to Nova-Roma.'_

'_Who would be stupid enough to do that?' _Rogue asked.

'_Should I start making a list?' _Chloe thought as she shook her head. '_I might be done in about two years if I started now.'_

'_Touche,' _Rogue commented as she placed her hand on the side of her cheek and shook her head to clear the cobwebs.

'_Given how the plane is some of the most advanced technology in the world.__It would have to be no less than a god responsible for taken it down,' _Karen said with an extremely serious tone to her voice and she shook her head. _'Which doesn't make this situation better, it makes the situation worse.'_

'_I did pick up a chaotic thought pattern after the plane got hit, nothing more than rage,__ nothing more than thoughts of destruction__,' _M'gann thought as she closed her eyes. _'__I've never felt__….__that much rage in one place, even when the Hulk's having a really bad day.__ It was kind of scary to listen for something like that.'_

'_I'd imagine it was,' _Harry offered in what he hoped was a reassuring tone of voice and M'gann let in a breath she was holding and let out another.

'_Scary enough to live it,' _Amara commented.

Harry smiled, despite everything, he landed on a good island. It would be unfortunate if he landed on an island with ugly one eyed monsters or something like that. No, he landed on the island of beautiful warrior women and that to Harry made him smile.

'_So, you landed…well given that all of the myths about Amazons….' _Gwen thought.

'_You know that those myths might have been created by someone with an ax to grind,' _Harry told the blonde through the bond and Gwen nodded as she chewed down on her lip to bring herself mentally up to speed with what was happening. _'So, I'm going to believe everything that I see, and nothing that I hear.'_

'_Very wise of you,' _Laura agreed as she leaned back. The scent of these people, they were kindred spirits, sharing the same fierce determination that drove her, a fact that made her smile.

'_Yes, really, we'd be falling into the same trap that everyone else does in regards to mutants, if we didn't think for ourselves,'_Kitty thought to Harry and there was a second where the brunette pondered. She supposed that jumping to baseless conclusions was a human thing.

Harry sensed someone approaching.

'_I'll talk to you ladies later, well it might be a bit later for me then for you,' _Harry said abruptly.

'_How….how do you figure that?' _Jean thought to Harry with a smile crossing her face and there was a pause.

'_Jean, some call it magic,' _Harry thought to the redhead as he stood a bit more rigid and smiled as Donna showed up.

"Hey, Donna," Harry said and it was obvious that she wasn't intending to walk up towards him, for the simple fact the young Amazon almost jumped ten feet in the air.

"Oh, Harry, I didn't….I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," Donna muttered as she looked at him.

It was very hard to look him in the eyes, given what the other girls had told him about his….talents. Donna felt herself getting particularly excited at the thought of what he could do to her. The Amazon watched Harry with a smile and he returned it. If she had worn panties, they would have been soaked.

"So, it's a big island, easy to get lost around here," Harry told her conversationally and Donna's bright blue eyes snapped up towards Harry.

"Are you lost?" Donna asked curiously, scarcely able to believe this god would have been lost.

"No, not lost, just merely wandering," Harry stated as he heard the sounds of combat off in the distance.

"I'm surprised you're not there….I mean all of those Amazons, they're willing to throw down and go a few rounds with the Star Child," Donna said but she paused then shook her head.

'_Sounded a lot cleaner in my head,' _Donna thought, not knowing that Harry picked up on them.

Harry smiled, he said nothing, and he could tell the effect the smile was having, was something that caused the girl to become really flushed. Donna's eyes flashed a little bit with embarrassment.

"So, how about you and I, we go a few rounds?" Harry asked Donna.

Donna's eyes widened, while she did not really believe in the Star Child until today, she thought….well she saw the person standing before him.

"I don't know, if you want a fight….well I think that I could do well enough to go a few rounds with you," Donna said coyly. She figured that she could jump on this before Diana did, for bragging rights, and that would be amazing. "So….don't worry, I'll be gentle on you."

Despite this false bravado, Donna was nervous, this was the first time she had fought a man in battle. It would be a different than having a sparring session with one of her sisters. The dark haired woman watched Harry and placed her hand on her hips for a moment as she faced off with him.

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Harry commented to her, with a wink and a smile, and Donna tried not to lose herself.

They fell into a battle stance and the only consolation to Donna, was that she could not get her rear handed to her any worse than she did when she had a sparring session with her sister and her mother. That was the one moment of solace that she was given, despite the butterflies beating a healthy drumbeat in her stomach and caused a slight knot to turn in her gut.

"So are you sure that you want to do this?"

Harry gave this statement to Donna, giving her a chance to back off.

Laura smiled as she watched the battle from where she stood in the shadows; she was determined to take the winner in battle, because it had been a while since she had a really good sparring session. It had been less than a week but that was too long for her. Then she could jump Harry in the aftermath.

Harry and Donna circled each other and he allowed her to make the first move.

She tried to hit him with a kick from the start but Harry tripped her up, using her own momentum against her. He grabbed her arms in a full nelson and pressed her down onto the ground in that hold.

Donna struggled, of course, it didn't help her at all that her backside was grinding up against Harry's crotch. It was quite inadvertent of course, but it still happened. This caused an unnatural heat to rise up between her legs and the woman's eyes widened in a supreme amount of frustration.

"Not bad," Harry whispered to her and he released her. It took a few seconds for Donna to register this in her mind as she scrambled to her feet.

She was determined to do better than not bad, in fact, she was determined to do very good.

'_She has a lot of fight in her,' _Laura stated to Harry as he blocked her punch with his hand. She used her strength to catch him off guard, but he returned fire and took her down once more.

Donna paused; it was almost like Harry was reading her movements, trying to figure out some kind of pattern. The wizard's eyes locked onto her as he jumped into the air and used his super breath to knock her off guard. Harry went at her.

"We never said no powers," Harry whispered Donna but she popped into the air, flying with a smile on her face.

"Ha, we didn't!" Donna cheered with a bright smile on her face as she flew towards him but she yelped when Harry joined her in the air.

"Ha, ha!" Harry yelled as he went up towards Donna to face her and there was one statement that went through her head.

'_Ah, crap,' _Donna thought as she saw Harry flying in front of her, with a smile on his face.

The Amazon Princess felt nerves spread over her very being as she swayed in the air and there was a second where she thought that she had him but it was evident he had her. The Amazon was about to lose sense of herself but she must not.

Harry went for her but Donna grabbed him and tried to hurl him into the nearest mountain range.

She looked at him, looking from one side to the other and wondered which we did he go?

Harry came out from the other side and took her down onto the ground.

Donna bounced off like a ping pong ball. She was not really hurt, Amazons did not bruise easily after all but her pride had taken a slight hit which was much worse than any injury.

Donna looked up and Harry handed her a shield and a sword. She wondered if this would help her but Harry had one of his own.

The swords and the shields clashed together with each other and there was a huge clang that resounded out each time they connected. That continued with every exchange as they fought back and forth with each other.

The little sparring session was getting intense and Donna was determined to get the better of him.

Laura smiled, perhaps it was just her, but seeing these two go at it like this. It was really hot.

* * *

Fury did not even begin to describe what he felt. He was so close to taking out that accursed Har-Rell that he could almost taste it. He was in his grasp and he had been building up this moment in his mind for an extremely long time. It was a dangerous thought that went through his mind but never the less, it was one that continued to resound.

The God of War was not someone who could be trifled with. Ares had only one thing on his mind and that was revenge.

In the past, Har-Rell had went up against him, had stopped his plans. Humans were hostile by nature, therefore they needed some guidance, and guided they would be.

Once their champion was eliminated, there would be no one to protect the world from themselves, there would be no one to save the world from everything that he could dish out.

His eyes flashed beneath his armor, it was go time.

His children would be ready. He would finish the job that was started earlier and Har-Rell would be crushed beneath his feet.

**To Be Continued in Part Two.**


	10. Chapter 10: Wonderous Part Two

**Chapter 10: Wondrous Part Two.**

"So how was it?"

Donna Troy of Themyscira was down on the ground exhausted and panting, yes, this was something that sounded a lot better of an idea in theory then it panned out in practice. The aches and pains, the bumps and bruises, and everything in between that caused her body to feel the burn. The Amazon princess tried to get to her feet.

"Look on the bright side," Laura commented, she'd been watching the sparring session with interest. She stepped from the shadows towards Harry and Donna with a smile on her face.

"There's a bright side to getting my ass handed to me?" Donna asked in disbelief as she shook her head. She really couldn't believe that the case, due to the fact her body was so sore. She also ached in places she didn't existed and for not good reasons either.

"Yeah, there's a bright side to it," Laura stated rather bluntly as she looked Donna straight in the eye. "It could have been me in there, so count yourself lucky that it wasn't."

Donna paused for a moment to considered the other girls words, before she was finally able to pull herself up to her feet, although she was a tiny bit sore. "Noted."

Diana, to be honest, had also been watching the battle and she'd been surprised at how quickly Har-Rell moved. The legends about his prowess were lacking in their description of how truly skilled he was. She felt stirrings deep within her that made her stand up a bit straighter and wish that she could indulge herself in them with him. The thoughts of it, the thoughts of what he could do to her sexually, it just had to make her smile. The dark haired woman stepped forward to join them.

"Well, that teaches you a valuable lesson, Donna," Diana reprimanded her and Donna rolled her eyes.

"Spare me the lecture, Diana," Donna replied hotly as she leaned back against the closest pillar. She closed her eyes, before she started to rub her shoulders a tiny bit.

Only to be shocked when she felt Har-Rell's hands on her shoulders as he started to rub the tension knots right out of them. Donna cursed her luck as she felt butterflies in her stomach. His hands felt _so_ good and the dark haired teenager closed her eyes in pleasure. Her eyes popped open again when Har-Rell stepped back, the shoulder rub ceasing far too soon for the young Amazon's liking.

"So, what's the status on the ship, Kory?" Harry asked the princess as she showed up with a smile on her face.

"The status is...that...well...we still are working on it, Harry!" Kory told him brightly. She figured that he was not being pushy, he was just concerned that the ship was not yet in working order. All of them wanted to find their way home and the Tamarian princess was one of them. She shook her head to clear it before informing him of her whole reason for seeking him out in the first place. "But M'gann is still trying to find out anything about the thought patterns that popped up."

"She's not the only one."

The Queen of the Amazons showed up looking rather serious. Her daughters had never seen like that before so Diana turned to give her mother her full and undivided attention.

"Mother, what is it?"

"Three of our sisters where attacked on a scouting mission outside our home," Hippolyta informed the group, her stomach in a lurch. "Thankfully, they weren't killed but it's obvious…."

"...That it was a message," Harry concluded for her as he let out a breath. There was one statement, three words exactly, that bounced around in the back of his head over and over again.

'_Son of a bitch.'_

Okay technically that was four words but "a" was a letter, not a proper word, so Harry counted that as three words. Proper math skills aside, Harry pondered the perilous predicament that he was in and wondered how he would get out of this one.

When it came right down to it though, he basically got in to something like this every single day of his life since he started Hogwarts and he meant _Every, Single, Day_. His life had basically been a chaotically dangerous whirlwind from the time he was born.

Despite that fact if there was something dangerous enough to take down three extremely skilled Amazon's and shoot down his state of the art plane; it was worth paying attention to.

"I don't suppose that you have any idea as to who's behind this?" Harry commented as he used his X-Ray vision to scan his surroundings. Right now, he was scanning for any abnormalities in the air.

"No, not a….unless it's….but he surely wouldn't be brazen enough to attack us here?" Diana whispered as an awful realization hit her. Donna and Hippolyta realized the exact same thing as her more or less at the exact same moment, which resulted in all three Amazons looking extremely grave and shaken.

"What….what has….what has attacked us friend Diana?' Kory asked, she could see how shaken these hardened warrior women were and that was something that had shook her as well. The bold and beautiful alien princess was not someone whose resolve faltered all that easily. But, there was something stirring in the pit of her stomach and she felt a knot clench within her. Starfire turned to face the three Amazons and look at them in the eyes.

Hippolyta was trying to gather her thoughts together, mostly, because she hoped that it wasn't who she thought was attacking was actually attacking. After collecting herself and regaining her resolve she offered a name.

"Ares," she managed, saying that name with a lot of disdain.

Harry's mind quickly went over that thought before he said his response. "As in Ares, the God of War. That Ares?"

Harry had heard tales about how vicious Ares was, although he was not sure how much he believed any of them. Mythology had a way of twisting things in certain ways and messing with the facts to suit a narrative. The young wizard placed a hand on the side of his head, feeling the tension headache coming on and that was not the only thing that was going to make his head ring in a moment.

An explosion resounded from the other end of the island rattling them when they heard it and that jolted the entire group out of their thoughts, causing them to look in the direction they heard it from. After collecting themselves, they moved quickly towards the source of the blast.

'_Shit,' _Harry cursed, as crude as it might be, it was a pretty accurate summary of their current situation as far as he was concerned.

Ares had arrived and he'd brought some friends. Which was amazing, as he didn't expect Ares to come up with such a sophisticated plan, the God of War was known for brute force more than anything else and that thought caused many more alarms to ring through Harry's mind that something was off about this situation.

"Prepare yourself for battle!" Hippolyta yelled to Artemis, the General of her armies.

Despite the fact that she had no edict over Harry, he prepared himself for battle as well. He was ready and willing to go. He cracked his knuckles together and stared forward, his determination could not be matched by anyone.

* * *

There was no question about it. No matter what Harry had to say about it. Ares was coming, and those three words filled even the most hardened of warriors with apprehension.

"So, he wants a fight," Laura commented from where she stood on edge of the battlefield. She watched everything going on around her carefully. The dark haired teen was ready and willing to take on all comers, but she couldn't even tell what these things were. "What are those things anyway?"

"Some kind of artificial constructs," Harry informed her and Laura raised an eyebrow as she watched them. "They're not technically alive, in fact, their made with magic."

"Magic? That means they're not living, breathing, have a soul or anything that makes them worth while," Laura said as she followed their progress.

Mindless drones, meant only to perform the sadistic will of the mad individual who created them. There was no question about it, things were going to get extremely ugly, extremely quickly. The woman popped her claws, if he wanted to get ugly, she could get equally ugly as well. After all, she was the best there was at what she did, and what she didn't wasn't very nice.

She was ready to sink her claws into something, her narrowed eyes flashed with malice as she prepared herself for what appeared to be a good hunt.

The legion of monsters arrived and Harry raised a hand. He was about to bring down the thunder. As much as he wanted to wait and see the Amazons in action, it was a prudent idea to keep his head above the water and not lose focus. Squinting his eyes, Harry sent a huge blast of focused heat vision at these ugly and faceless foes.

The heat beam hit the creatures in an arc, burning through them straight through the center. Thanks to his experience he'd learned a few tricks that let him make his heat vision more intense or less intense. There was a difference between giving someone a hot foot, burning them to a crisp or letting lose a beam of heat so intense it cut through them like a plasma cutter.

'_He's hiding behind his minions,' _Harry thought as he brought his arms out to the sides then brought them together in clap sending forth a massive shock wave that bowled them over as if they were nothing.

'_Typical,' _Jean thought from afar, even though she was not present in the field, she could still enjoy watching Harry in action. The redhead folded her arms. _'That's just really typical of the villain, not even bothering to have the common courtesy to show up in person.'_

'_Good or bad?' _Kitty thought as she saw Harry grab one of the minions by the arm then flip forwards over top of its head, landing, he used the momentum and leverage he had on his enemy arm to send it hurtling forwards into a pack of its allies. Kitty's question disappeared into the ether, never to be answered.

Laura moved around with swift fury, relying on her instincts and training to plan out her actions. She was determined to do what she could to slice and dice her enemies. Her claws slashing in every direction caused her enemies to fall apart around her as her claws cut right through them. Flipping forwards, Laura buried the claw in her foot into the top of one of the constructs head, physics did the rest as her momentum and weight caused it to tear free from its body completely.

Diana rushed forward, she seemed to be in the zone and that was as good a place to be as any, when going up against enemies that would smash you worse than the Hulk. Not that Diana couldn't smash things pretty hard herself and she proceed to do just that, by smashing her fist clean through the chest of one enemy, then took its head clean off with a backhand blow from her other arm.

Pulling her arm free from her decapitated foe, the wondrous woman summoned a sword and shield into her hands from her bracers. With intensity flashing through her eyes. The Princess of the Amazons plowed her shield into her enemies and sent them flying in every direction that she could manage. Her jaw was clenched as she continued to do battle. Her heart beat a little bit faster as she pushed herself further.

'_Keep going!' _Diana thought to herself, she was determined to take down any enemy that she could with her furious attacks. Her sword cut a savage arc through her enemies. Her shield sent them flying every time she saw fit to bash them with it and she never once let up on the attack for a moment.

Her attacks were amongst the most brutal as well. Each strike meant to do the maximum amount of damage they could. Plunging her sword into the chest plate of one of her adversaries with a lunge, she then proceeded to smash him with her shield until he crumbled to dust.

Harry saw a volley of arrows fly through the air in an arc then come crashing to the ground. A moment passed, then the ground exploded where each arrow made contact with it. Sending up smoke and debris that allowed the Amazons to rush forwards under the cover it provided. There was a loud crash as more of the enemies fell with a furious fury.

The wizard thought they had the right idea, although he was going to give them a little added hand. He shot up into the air like a cork and flew around. He created a bit of speed so he could get high into the air, as high as a kite as prepared to come down hard.

BOOM!

Harry hurtled at his enemies like a rocket causing them to shatter as he blasted through them with the force of a rail gun round. He smiled as he landed on the ground, only to have to dodge backwards as several flaming spears hit the ground where he once stood.

'_Well this is new,' _Harry thought as he jerked a spear out of the hand of one of the stone constructs.

He could hear a faint tick and he wondered what this mysterious ticking sound was. He doubted very much that this mysterious ticking noise was a pipe bomb but that was beside the point. Snape, Snape, Severus Snape. Shaking it off, the wizard's expression became even more intense as he jumped up into the air then came down with a thunderous crash as he drove his magically enhanced fists into the ground. Time seemed to stand still, then the ground buckled underneath his fist sending out an earthquake that sent his enemies flying ass over tea kettle.

He watched the scattered remains of these creatures hit the ground with a pained grimace. Harry cracked his neck then turned around to search the area. So far, there was nothing, at least nothing that he had to worry about.

'_Okay, I don't like this,' _Harry thought to himself. He saw the remaining creatures taking a few steps back.

"They're retreating?" Hippolyta asked in disbelief. Retreat wasn't in Ares vocabulary, it would be a sign of weakness, of surrender, and that was something that the god of war did not show.

Diana voiced precisely what Harry was thinking. "I don't like this, I don't like this at all."

Harry offered her a shadow of a smile. "You and I both, Princess."

Harry was pretty sure that he was missing something, he just wasn't sure what precisely what he was missing. The fact of the matter was that everything that he knew about Ares, pointed to the fact he would never retreat in such a manner.

Harry focused his thoughts and it clicked together like a jigsaw puzzle. He knew why he backed off now. This was a distraction, a common tactic during a war. The young wizard looked up as one thought echoed through his mind.

'_This wasn't over, it's never over,' _Harry thought to himself as he bit down on his lip so hard he nearly left an indentation in it.

* * *

Ares watched the battle carefully from the conjured throne he sat upon. If he even cared to admit it, the Star Child, Har-Rell, was almost close to something he might consider a worthy adversary.

"Time to face him!" Ares yelled as he rose to his feet. He led his forth his ultimate weapon, the Destroyer, into battle. It would destroy the Amazons, it had been fueled by the hatred and bloodshed of a hundred wars.

Harry, meanwhile on the other end of the island, craned his neck upwards as he waited for the other shoe to drop. Suddenly, Harry sensed a force more powerful than the Juggernaut on steroids approaching him. The ground cracked and shattered underneath its feet as the machine stampeded forward.

_'__So many dark thoughts,' _M'gann thought as she closed her eyes and felt a headache coming on due to the overwhelm rage the construct radiated outwards like it was a tangible thing.

A unit of Amazons rushed forwards to intercept the machine, it was silver with jagged edges and blades protruding from its body, with glowing red eyes. It was the perfect powerful puppet built for one thing. It was not only fueled by the hatred of a hundred wars, but the perfect and brutal combination of an artifact Ares used at one time, along with concepts used by an Asgardian artifact that he altered a long time ago.

The Amazons attacked but much to their dismay, they were swatted aside as if they were flies.

"Stand back!" Harry yelled out as he rushed forwards towards it at super speed.

The machine put up one hand and smacked Harry in the face. He was smashed down to the ground like an afterthought.

The Amazons watched this happen in open shock, Ares had constructed a monstrosity that even Har-Rell couldn't handle. He unleashed his heat vision full bore upon it but the machine continued to soldier forward as if it was nothing. It was worse than the Juggernaut.

Harry shot up into the air but the machine grabbed him around the ankle, then slammed him hard into the ground. It did this several times in a row before tossing him to the side like a piece of trash.

"Okay! That's it!" Laura yelled out before the feral mutant flew forwards claws popping out with a snikt. Landing on its back she kicked and slashed at the machine in a spirited attempt to take it down. Reaching upwards the Destroyer grabbed her in its hand, squeezed her roughly, then tossed her off to the side where she crashed through several tree's before her flight was finally stopped when she hit a large boulder with a sharp crack.

"You and your collective have truly met your match, Har-Rell," Ares declared boldly as he led his weapon forward.

"New plan, attack him!" Diana yelled as she made her way towards Ares but the Destroyer stepped in front of the God of War, protecting its master.

Diana felt a huge fist impact with the top of her head and her knees buckled underneath the force sending her to the ground in front of the Destroyer. She felt a ringing sensation go through her head and she tried to jump up to her feet, only to once more be clubbed to the ground by the construct with an ax handle smash.

Seeing the Amazon Princess laying there before it on the ground the Destroyer stomped her underneath its foot as it continued its path forwards.

"Diana!" Hippolyta rushed forward to slam a spear into it's chest. For a brief second, she thought that the attack worked. It seemed to back off the Destroyer for an instant, when really all that it did was cause its interest to turn towards her. The Queen of the Amazons took a step back but the Destroyer lunged forwards to grab her around the throat, then drove her down to her knees where it began to choke her out.

Reaching up to grab it's hand with both of her own, Hippolyta was able to pull herself free with a tremendous shout "RAHHH!"

Har-Rell hovered in the air above the battle having recovered from the Destroyer hitting him so hard it nearly knocked him unconscious. He was now determined to fight smarter, not harder. So as a result he analyzed the construct and the battle before him closely. Taking careful note of its every movement, it's every twitch, it was then that he saw it. He saw the Destroyer's weakness.

"Everyone stop attacking it!" Harry yelled to the Amazons and that was a statement that threw them off guard.

"You're kidding me, right?" Diana asked Harry having recovered from the rather severe beating the Destroyer had delivered to her, only for him to shake his his head.

"No, it's no joke! That thing is feeding off our aggression, each punch, each kick, each blast, is giving it the fuel it needs to continue fighting and to grow stronger," Harry informed them and the Amazons took a step back.

"And if you're wrong?" Diana asked, although she figured now was not the time to question Har-Rell. Not when he sounded so sure of himself. So firm in his resolve, she could see the determination in his emerald green eyes and it sent a heat burning throughout her body that couldn't be matched.

"You Amazons are cowards! You can't even stand against my greatest creation! He will crush you like the weak willed woman you are!" Ares bellowed boldly, angered at the fact that they didn't fight until their last breath. That was not the way of the God of War.

The Amazons stepped forward but Hippolyta turned to her sisters, giving them a warning glance.

"No! He's baiting you! Do not rise to it! Do not fall into his trap! Remember we follow the goddess Athena! And one of her tenets is to fight only when there is no other alternative!" Hippolyta told them, hoping that despite all signs pointing to the contrary; they would be able to find a way through this without further bloodshed.

Harry made sure the Amazons were standing behind him, as he stood tall and bold before the Destroyer as it made its way towards him.

"You fear it! Don't you Har-Rell?" Ares asked in an attempt to get Har-Rell to give into his aggression.

"The only thing that I fear is your ugly face," Harry retorted as he sought to see the Destroyer fall hard. It took another step towards him but this one was labored.

Harry smiled, he did not raise a hand to challenge it, in fact he placed his hands behind his back. He stood strong and tall, watching it with an arched back. The young wizard kept himself focused on the construct in front of him. A thunderous explosion echoed around him but the young man stood unflinching before the Destroyer.

The Destroyer seemed to stall for a second, almost as if it was unable to move another step forwards.

Harry heard the humming, oh how he loathed to hear something hum. Never the less, the Destroyer stood there motionless for a second that seemed to stretch on for eternity and the the Amazons watched this from where they stood behind him with hope in their eyes.

The Destroyer seemed to sway in place before it hit the ground with a clatter, going cold and lifeless.

"YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO DO THAT!" Ares shouted that out as he flew into an abject rage, his eyes seemed to pop out in his skull the blood vessels within them clearly visible, his hands clutched together into fists, and he bared his teeth like a rabid dog. The God of War brought one of his fist backwards before launching it at Harry in a thunderous attack.

Harry blocked the attack with his forearm blasted a palm strike into Ares stomach the force of the strike pushing him back several feet. The wizard knew that the God of War wasn't about to let this battle go, not without a further fight at least.

"I've always been one who didn't just meet expectations! I've exceeded them! Especially ugly jerks like yourself!" Harry exclaimed before he drove his fist into the God of War's stomach as hard as he could this time lifting him up off of his feet as he drove the air from his lungs and blasting his adversary back.

The two of them went up in the air and the Amazons watched everything that happening in front of them with awed expressions of shock. Flying forwards, Harry tried to attack Ares again only for the god to slip to the side at the last moment then drive an elbow into the center of his back sending him blasting towards the ground. Laughing insanely he turned his gaze upon Diana.

Diana's eyes widened as Ares tried to attack her with feral fury; he had always held a grudge against Hippolyta after she'd bested Hercules and taking out her daughter, would be just as good as taking her out in his insane mind.

Harry flew in and took the shot. He was pretty sure that Diana could take it but at the same time, he wasn't going to risk letting her take a shot like that from an enraged God of War. Trapping Ares arm with his hands, he yanked back on it hard bringing him forwards where nailed him with a headbutt that cracked his helmet and rattled his brain.

As the deity was staggering around dazed, the emerald eyed wizard used the opportunity to nail him with a huge punch. Time seemed to stop for a moment as it connected with his head, then a noise like a cannon being fired resounded before Ares went flying backwards with such force that even hitting the ground did little to arrest his momentum and he ended up carving a huge trench into it before finally coming to a stop.

Ares picked himself back up and glared at Harry, with savage hatred in his eyes, then he issued a statement that would chill the bones of many men.

"I don't care what you do Har-Rell. No matter what you try. You will be never be able to defeat me."

Harry issued a counter statement of his own by slamming him with another huge rocket buster of a punch across the jaw that hit the god of war of so hard, he stood there dazed and unblinking as his brain tried to reboot itself.

"If I can't kill you, I'll make it so you wish that I was able to," Harry said fiercely as he stared down the enemy before him and plotted his next course of action. He cracked his knuckles as he planned his next move.

Diana watched, she wondered if she should get involved but she couldn't bring herself to to do so, on simple account of being spellbound by what was happening in front of her. A huge punch resounded across the top of the God of War's head like a thunder crack, followed by a pulse of energy that could be felt for miles around on all sides.

She watched, the laser light show got even more intense as Harry upped the intensity of his attacks on Ares, laying into him with magically enhanced shot after magically enhanced shot. There was a huge blast of energy and Ares screamed out in agony before going silent. The God of War had been defeated. Harry having removed him from the place where he stood.

There was a pause and Artemis looked at Harry, asking him the simple question. "Where did you…."

"I sent him to a place he won't be returning back from any time soon," Harry stated, in a statement that showed that he was not one to be trifled with. The Amazons looked towards Harry as he carefully levitated the Destroyer up into the air, careful not to do anything to it that would be considered an attack. He thought about banishing it into the sun, because it was too dangerous to be around. Then he thought that such mystical artifact being banished into the sun might have huge ramifications.

He did have a place for it, a place where he could bury it so deep where no one would ever bother it ever again, at least that was the relevant thought going through Harry's mind.

* * *

"We should be able to leave by tomorrow morning," Zinda informed Harry before she added as an afterthought in a knowing voice. "Only if you want to, of course."

"Well, I'll make up my decision tomorrow morning," Harry told the blonde pilot to which she offered him a nod and a smile. She could see all of the reasons why Harry wanted to stick around for a little bit longer and to be honest, it was not like time passed on the island. So that had that going for them.

"Well let me know when you're ready to go then. This place is fascinating, although I think I just missed crashed landing here one time," Zinda said with a smile. "Ended up crash landed in some world that was lost to time, complete with dinosaurs."

"Well that's fascinating."

Harry smiled as he leaned back and saw Diana walking up to him. She was dressed in more casual clothing than her usual regal attire. She was wearing a white linen shirt that wrapped around tight around her ample bust and a skirt of the same material that was split down the sides to show off her long beautiful legs that stretched for miles. Her ass was shown off quite nicely as she shifted in her skirt. She wore no shoes which exposed her elegant feet with high arches and sensual toes.

"Hi, Harry," Diana said as she sat down on the rocks across from him. She casually propped her feet up so they were on either side of him and she leaned forward. "Are you okay after everything that happened today?"

"Fine Diana. In fact, I'm better than fine," Harry remarked as he saw the Amazon princess lean forward, giving Harry a brief view down her shirt.

"Oh, well that's something," Diana stated with a bright smile on her face as she leaned forwards further and it was quite obvious where she wanted his attention to rest at that point. "After everything that happened, it has been a rough day. Things like that normally don't happen on the island."

Harry smiled, he was sure of that, not that Paradise was lacking in any excitement. It was just that there were certain things indicated that the island was a lot….well the island was a lot less chaotic then how it'd been earlier today, Harry would have to say that much. He watched Diana as she shifted on the rocks, causing them dig into the ground and she offered a bright smile to Harry as she continued to lean forward towards him.

"Ares thought that he could measure up to you. He was sadly mistaken," Diana stated lightly and the implied double meaning of what she meant was obvious.

Harry could not resist returning fire with a really confident statement of his own. "Very few men can measure up to me."

Diana offered a smile as she eyed him, his muscles were only slightly visible underneath his t-shirt but what she could make out was breathtaking and she imagined that the entire package when she unraveled it would be even more so. The woman's eyes traced over him and she couldn't help but lick her lips. If half of the legends were true, well he was amazing. "That much, I don't doubt."

Harry smiled at her. "You shouldn't princess, it would be a bad thing to doubt me."

"That it would be," Diana agreed as she leaned towards Harry, staring into his eyes, his amazing green eyes, which were an easy thing to get lost in. Diana felt very faint as she watched him. "I never thought….well I always thought...I mean."

Diana looked a tad bit flustered and Harry thought that he could fluster the beautiful Amazon princess even more as he placed his hand gently on her upper thigh. Much to his glee, Diana's face flushed as she kept her eyes on Harry, imagining what he could do to her.

"Just take your time, take a deep breath," Harry offered her with a smile.

"Right deep breath, deep breath, got it," Diana commented, although that was an action that was easier said than done. She couldn't get her thoughts together, it was almost like there was something in the air that was bewitching her mind, ensnaring her senses and she knew what it was.

"Just take your time and say your peace," Harry whispered to her with a smile as he shifted his hand ever so slightly up her leg which caused the woman to shiver.

Diana shook her head, why was she acting like a timid schoolgirl? She was the princess of the Amazons! The fiercest of all warriors!...Okay that wasn't modest at all! Still, she was trained to be bold and brazen, so perhaps she should do something absolutely daring.

"I'm sorry," Diana said to Harry and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow, although he could smell a certain amount of arousal and see her nipples poking out from underneath her white top, which gave him a visual cue of what she was thinking.

"For what?" Harry asked Diana.

"For this," Diana responded as she pounced Harry in the blink of an eye, kissing him fiercely.

Harry found her delicious lips pressing against his, her sexy body pressing against his, and he placed his hands on her ass grasping it firmly. The woman was kissing him madly like he was an enemy to be defeated, although his body was already losing given that he felt his cock hardening his short, as Diana ran her hands closer down his torso, before ripping his shirt open.

Harry shrugged, he could buy a new one. She started to kiss his abs and chest, running her fingers down them as she worked down towards his pants.

"Oh, great Hera, I'm going to enjoy this," Diana breathed hungrily as she reached down to claim her prize.

* * *

**Cock Blocked By the Terms of Service.  
**

* * *

Diana, Hippolyta, several Amazons, and Laura all laid in various states of disarray. Harry pulled Kory into a one armed hug.

"That was amazing," Kory breathed gushingly. "It may be a while before they get up though, I think you overwhelmed them."

"I do try."

Zinda watched from the window of the plane, she only caught the end of the show, but that was enough for her to head to her room on the plane.

She also figured that she'd score some one on one time with her boss pretty soon for a performance review.

* * *

Harry closed his eyes and there was a smile across his face. As much as he hated to admit it, it was time for that sad moment of farewell to happen and he looked over his shoulder, to see Diana in particular looking rather despondent that he had to leave even though she accepted it.

"You do realize that we will meet again, don't you?" Harry asked the Amazon Princess and she offered him a slight smile.

"After all we've been through, we better meet again," Diana told him fiercely and she was looking over Harry like he was a fine dish that she was going to be consumed. Of course, she did her share of consumption earlier that morning. "You know, I might have to return the favor."

"Crash in my backyard after a vengeful god is after you?" Harry asked her and Diana raised her eyebrow, giving her a mock angry glare although she was smiling so it lost the a lot of the effect she intended for it to have.

"Yes….yes something like that, though maybe not as dramatic," Diana admitted with a smile across her face as she surveyed Harry. It went without saying but she could get lost in those green eyes that stared back at her with such intensity.

Harry could see her staring in his eyes and he could not help but offer a teasing smile.

"Well, I'm finding it really hard to leave," Harry admitted to her.

"Yes, I know, but you do have responsibilities to a larger world outside of Themyscira," Diana stated to Harry and the wizard nodded. She could not resist adding the next point, with a half teasing smile dancing on her lips. "There is an entire world of woman who I think would descend upon the island and attack us if we hoarded you for too long."

"Heaven forbid," Harry stated with a smile.

"Yes, heaven forbid," Diana agreed with him as her eyes remained locked firmly on his.

"So, this is it," Hippolyta commented as she stepped forward to greet him. "You do realize that your legend will grow much more then it already has, now that you've been here in the present time."

"Well if they thought that I was a myth, they're going to find out how very real I am," Harry told the Queen of the Amazons.

Hippolyta was not going to say anything but when Harry arrived here, it took every single bit of will power that she possessed not to jump him straight away when he showed up on the island. And it was a hard thing to do, as she recalled it with picture perfect clarity. She'd missed her husband a great deal in the time he'd been away.

Although, judging by the look on Harry's face, he knew, oh believe her, he knew and the smile on his face, was teasing, it was taunting, it told her so many things and left open the promise for even more.

"Donna's kicking herself for missing out on the festivities," Hippolyta told Harry and he smiled.

"Well, maybe she could come and visit me sometime, but I'm sure she'll get her chance," Harry told the Queen of the Amazons and she smiled.

"And I'm sure that she'd eagerly take it," Hippolyta commented as she watched Harry with an intense expression dancing through her eyes. There was only one thing left to do and for both of them to do it. It was time to say farewell.

Hippolyta stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Harry's waist, pulling him into a kiss. The two of them made the kiss a lingering and lasting one and it appeared there was about to repeat of the night before.

"Mother! You shouldn't be so greedy," Diana whispered chidingly, echoing a statement that her mother gave her.

"Diana, honey, when you've been around as like as I have, you can be as greedy as you like," Hippolyta stated and Harry smiled as Diana seemed to want to outdo her mother, enveloping Harry in a crushing hug and then she pressed her lips onto his with a burning kiss.

The two of them indulged themselves in the other, with Harry's tongue working deep into her mouth and she pushed back with her own kiss. The two of them ran their hands over each others bodies.

'_You know at this rate, we'll never get off the island,' _Amara thought but never the less, the Nova Romanian princess smiled at her god as she waited for him to get done.

"So are you girls ready to go?" Harry asked and Laura could not resist giving him a smile.

"Ready when you are, Harry," Laura commented and M'Gann and Kory could not keep the bright smiles off their own faces.

"Right, and you may see me sooner than you think," Diana told him and Harry smiled.

"Looking forward to it, princess," Harry replied to her as he gave her one last kiss but he could see the Amazons stirring.

"I would advise getting out of here, before you'd have to fight your way off the island," Hippolyta commented with a serious tone to voice.

"Oh! But another Orgy might break out if wait!" Kory said with a pout but Harry placed an arm around her.

"There will be many other opportunities," Harry said and the Tamarian princess looked at him with a smile on her face.

"I figured as much," Kory commented as she joined them in leaving the island.

The group prepared to leave after that adventure, it would be one to remember.

"Yes, it will be soon," Hippolyta commented to Diana as Donna showed up.

"How soon?" Donna asked as she watched their god take off.

"Well, sooner than you think," Hippolyta muttered and Diana crossed her arms but she smiled. "Patience my daughters, patience."

For spirited Amazons, patience not a virtue that they really had but for Har-Rell, it would be worth the wait. The two of them watched and wondered what their mother was cooking up. This prospect left both of the Princesses really excited and kind of worried.

**To Be Continued.**


	11. Chapter 11: Snapshots Through Time

**Chapter 11: Snapshots in Time. **

"I'm so jealous of you Harry! I mean! Like! It's all so completely fascinating, isn't it?" Kitty asked, only for Rachel to give her a warning look to be silent. Kitty hushed up trying to keep her dignity the best that she could, but there was still a look on her face that indicated she wished she'd been on the plane when it crash landed. "An entire island of warrior women at your beck and call! I mean! That's kind of, like, that's really….that's….I mean seriously!"

Kitty shook her head to try as she tried to wrap her head around everything. Her mind was completely blown and it took her a few seconds to be able to even comprehend anything, much less everything. Harry smiled, placing a hand on the top of her head, then patted her, and the brunette mutant watched him with intensely focused eyes, as did Jean, Rogue, Rachel, Wanda, Megan, and Kara. All of them extremely interested in what happened on the island.

"I was there. So, yes it was interesting," Laura commented with bored indifference, but there was a mysterious smile on her and there was a few seconds where Kitty stared at Laura, with even more interest than she usually did.

"Details?" Kitty asked Laura with an excited look on her fact, only for Laura to offered her a slight shadow of a smile and a shrug of indifference.

"Maybe later," Laura said lightly, the smile widening slightly across her face, she was not going to lie, she enjoyed tormenting Kitty. The look on the brunette's face was absolutely priceless as her eyes bulged out and then she narrowed them at Laura, but the pout she had on her face ruined any attempts to be intimidating.

"Oh! Come on!" Kitty begged as she bounced up and down a bit. then intertwined her hands in a pleading gesture. Looking absolutely adorable due to the imploring gaze that she had directed towards the feral teen mutant.

"Now! Kitty, that won't get you anywhere and you know it," Jean commented as she crossed her arms together then she pushed herself back to lean against a nearby wall. The redhead's eyes flashed with amusement, she was looking forward to getting the full details on Harry's trip to the island, in complete detail later. It was going to be completely….well the few flashes that popped into her head during the hot and heated adventures on the island was amazing. She would be cherishing those memories for quite a long time.

Kitty shrugged her shoulders with a sigh, after throwing her arms off to the side. "Yeah! I guess so."

"Well, it does sound pretty cool," Kara admitted with a smile, she supposed that she would get to the island soon enough. She needed to inspect that monument to Har-Rell, to ensure that it was up to specifications and if it wasn't? Well! She'd melt it down to slag with her heat vision and tell them to make it properly this time. The blonde pushed her hair out of her eyes at that thought and the mysterious smile on her face widened into a slight smirk.

"And the side benefits were amazing," Rogue added with a cheeky grin and Harry had a calm expression on his face, although a smile threatened to twitch off at the corners of his mouth. He was not going to say anything, as his eyes said pretty much everything.

"Yes, the side benefits were amazing," Harry agreed with her as he tightened his grip around her hand and Rogue nodded, with a glowing smile threatening to spread over her face.

"So! What do we have to do today?" Rachel asked.

That was a loaded question, for many reasons. Even with his ability to create dupes, Harry still took on a lot more than most people did. Still, he answered the question with good grace and with a wide smile on his face as he looked at the girls.

"Well, there is a lot to be done today," Harry admitted to the girls and they all smiled brightly.

"I'm sure there's more than enough for someone like you to do," Kitty commented and the implied double meaning of her statement was not missed by Harry.

Megan's eyes widened and she flushed, recalling her latest encounter with Harry.

"Well, Har's always busy doing something," Kara commented to them all and there was a laugh that was shared by everyone.

"You two are about as subtle as Thor's hammer to the head sometimes! I swear to God!" Rogue groaned palming her face as she did so, she was kinda sorta amused by their antics though. She tried not to show it too much because it would be unbecoming of her. Still, the mirth of her eyes was caught by the more observant members of the group.

"Well! Given that Harry's trying to put together a multimedia empire. He always has more than enough to do. In does more in one day, than twelve people do in a week," Jean stated rather firmly and Harry smiled, nodding in agreement at her words.

"Yes, I do," Harry commented to the redhead. There was a few seconds where the wizard pushed his hair out of his eyes, as he thought about everything he was up to as of late with the picture perfect clarity offered to him by his eidetic memory.

The Torch was actually; well it was on fire, if you wanted to use the very obvious pun. There were other areas that they still had to tackle though. Jameson's mouth was being kept to a minimum, but it wouldn't be JJ if he was completely silent. Basically, he sat in his office, barked out orders, demand pictures, pictures of Spider-Man, fired and rehired Peter on a weekly basis, even though Peter was under contract and the only one who could actually fire him was Harry. He decided not to let Peter or Jonah in on this fact since it amused the hell out of them, but he was curious if Peter had ever learned he'd secretly paid off the mortgage on May's house and her medical bills.

Harry figured that things like that made life interesting so he allowed Jameson to keep his meager responsibilities, though it was Betty who more or less, actually ran things at the Bugle. He supposed that until he did a complete overhaul of everything and got more of his ducks in a row in other areas, it would be unwise to upset the apple cart too much. And as Harry reminded himself, Jameson did have quite a few connections which could be used to good effect.

"Sooo...what's going on with SHIELD?" Kitty asked Harry and he shrugged his shoulders.

"You know that's a good question," Harry commented, the entire situation was pretty baffling. Well, except for the fact that Maria Hill and Jessica Draw wanted to get into his pants. Which wasn't a new thing, but he was holding out on Maria until he could figure out a way to nail her in the middle of the command deck of the Helicarrier.

"Maybe Fury's taking a vacation?" Jean suggested and Harry's look became completely and utterly dubious. "I know, it's…."

"...Far fetched. If Fury takes a vacation, then I'll eat his eye patch," Laura chimed in as she mulled it over in her mind. She always wanted to know exactly where Nick Fury was at all times and she could tell that others thought the same thing. Even that was tricky though, because he seemed to have more Life Model Decoys out there in both Old Man Fury and Samuel L. Fury varieties than Doom had Doombots of himself and Harry had dupes running around.

Harry was thinking along the same lines. There was a sense that there was something in the air. Fury disappeared pretty quickly and Harry had been making excuses to take frequent trips to SHIELD as well, not that he needed many excuses given some of the sexy female agents on tap that he could tap, but still, he was curious.

He came to one conclusion, the people in charge of SHIELD, they knew little more about Nick Fury's mysterious disappearance than Harry did. The official word was that he was taking a leave of absence but everyone involved was very skeptical about that.

"We'll just figure out what happens from here, as it happens," Harry concluded and he left the question at that.

Knowing Fury, there was a reason for his disappearance. He doubted very much that Fury would have gotten captured but who knew at this point.

* * *

"It's one of those days," Betty admitted to Harry but then she could not resist adding a few more words. "Well, it's the Bugle, so it feels like one of those days happens a lot more often than it should happen, but you get the picture."

Harry nodded his head in agreement and he told her as much. "Yes, I get the picture, but we're doing very well here."

"Top newspaper publisher in the city right now," Lois chimed in as she popped up from around the corner. She was pleased that it was some of her stories were able to help push the Bugle to newer heights but she was only one part of a bigger machine. "Of course, all of us….we had to work together to get to this point."

"Naturally," Harry agreed with her and the woman peered at him for a few seconds with narrowed eyes.

"You haven't forgotten…."

"No. I haven't, Lois," Harry informed her. Appearing to almost be insulted, that she thought that he would forget something this important. The woman's eyes locked onto him and she nodded.

"Yeah, I didn't think you'd forget about our date," Lois said, mentally slapping herself for her lack of faith.

Harry nodded, since his meeting with Jan got pushed back a bit due to Avenger related business that came up. That was the perils of being a super hero, sometimes the social schedule did not line up. Still he had a feeling that it would be worth the wait.

"You're so busy sometimes, I swear you have to be about ten different people," Lois commented and Iris turned up, to hear the tail end of the conversation.

"You know that would be something, to be ten different people," the woman admitted and Harry looked at her with one of his patented "don't be so absurd" looks but then he shook his head. "Although if you move around at the speed of light, you can somehow find the time."

"Well, you moving at the speed of light would be the only reason why you got a story about three minutes after it broke," Cat offered as she took a donut before Iris ate them all, since Harry had taken control of the Bugle, they had gotten such treats.

"Cat, I told you, I was able to get there quick because I have a really good car," Iris persisted in a patient voice as she shook her head.

Lois smiled, she did not say anything, but she could have sworn that she saw Iris bolt out of here pretty quickly, pretty frequently. She wondered at first if it was due to her mind being the thing that was working at super speed because of too much coffee. Be that as it may, Lois still heard a lot of things that happened. The dark haired woman turned towards Harry.

"So…."

"I'll see you all later," Harry stated and Betty smiled at the very thought. She wouldn't mind seeing a little more of Harry, he did drop by a couple of times a week to see how everything was holding up but he was out of there pretty quickly. Then again, given all of his responsibilities, it went without saying.

Lois watched Harry having decided to tag along with him; she wondered if today would be the day that she could get him to slip up. There was times that she could have sworn that he had a feeling or perhaps knew that she knew, but that could have been because she was paranoid.

The young man walking next to her reached over and taking her hand intertwined their fingers. It was a wonder why people didn't mob him as he walked down the streets of New York City, but she supposed that he had his own tricks to keeping a low profile. Never the less, she was glad to be the one that was on his arm today.

"I heard that your company grossed record profits last quarter and it's making LuthorCorp, OsCorp…WhateverCorp, it's putting them on the ropes," Lois said to him and there was a smile on his face based solely upon this news.

"Think it's Luthor-Osborn right now and well, I don't mean to brag," Harry said to her and Lois raised an eyebrow towards him.

"That's fucking bullshit! You brag all the damned time Harry. Honestly, you act like Tony Stark did before his heart injury. Half the time you act like god's gift to woman, which, is sort of true. But when you're not acting like that. You sort of come off as an insufferably smug genius level asshole, I admit you make it work but still..." The woman argued as she watched him with interest, but Harry could not resist chiming in with a few words of his own.

"Well, you're equally as prideful," Harry fired back with a teasing smile across his face and the dark haired woman narrowed his eyes at him, but before she could banter back, loud angry voices were heard nearby.

Harry craned his neck forward and focused his super hearing towards the sounds. The green eyes of the wizard flashed with loathing as he heard exactly who it was. It was the group formally known as the Friends of Humanity, who admittedly had seen better days, but there were still a few of them who refused to give up their demented dream.

"Don't those idiots ever take the fucking hint?" Lois asked Harry with exasperation in her voice and he offered her a pained smile.

"Obviously, they don't," Harry said to her as he looked over his shoulder to ensure that there was nothing sneaking up behind him.

The goons were backing a young girl up down an alleyway. She was wearing a hooded purple robe that covered her face and she backed off warily much like a trained fighter would, giving them a glare that indicated that they better step back.

"So, you think you're tough, mutant?"

"You idiots, think I'm a mutant?" she asked in a stoic tone of voice, her voice was crisp and there was a warning present in it.

"We don't think! We know! What else would you be, you little FREAK!?" A member of the unnamed racist group against mutants said.

"I think she's going to cry! You know what I mean, Vern?" One of the members of the group stated as he looked at the young girl but she stayed back against the wall, calmly glaring back at them.

"Trust me. You want to leave, before it's too late," The girl commented as she watched them and then her eyes glowed, she was not sure how much longer she could hold back her rage.

"What FREAK Trick are going to do with your eyes now! Oh, are you going to cry?" The man said, he looked like an overgrown walrus as he stepped forward and held a tire iron in his hand. "Well I'll give you something to…."

The tire iron was ripped out of his head, then it smacked him in the face, busting him in the mouth and causing a good number of his teeth to fly out. It had also done the job of knocking him unconscious. Which caused the corpulent man to crash into some trash cans as his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

"You're going to pay for trying to take me down!" She stated and her eyes glowed with even more power. "You don't want to do this! You really don't want to do this, my power is greater than yours!"

She ripped the weapons from their hands, then crushing them into balls like they were tin cans, hurled them with great fury at her enemies. The sound of crunching bones and bodies clanging filled the ally. They'd bitten off a lot more than they could chew.

"Get out of here!"

Harry was even interested in what was happening and Lois was as well. She had never seen anything like this in her life, reality was literally warping around her.

'_Bloody hell! Her magic is more chaotic than Wanda's was,' _Harry thought as he leaned forward to get a closer look.

'_Seriously? It can't be that bad,' _Wanda chimed in through the link but everyone around Harry in the streets, screamed as the skies briefly turned red. _'Okay...that's much worse then I thought.'_

Harry took a step forward to speak with her but before he could the girl opened a portal and escaped through it. The wizard's eyes followed her as she disappeared, then he looked over his shoulder towards Lois, she was confused as he was.

He then blinked as he saw a very familiar individual who had a mustache that made him resemble a walrus. He blinked suddenly, he couldn't help but notice the lack of a wedding band, but shaking it off he offered him a swift kick to the groin, then stepped on his head for good measure.

Lois blinked, wondering what the hell that was all about, the more she found out, the less she understood.

* * *

"So, you've had a weird day, but it's nothing compared the last few weeks that I've had," Helena said, seeming to literally appear out of nowhere sitting in a chair across from Harry with her hand underneath her chin. Who was currently sitting at his office desk in the RAO Corporation tower.

"Gang war getting you down?" He questioned, not even bothering to look up at her as he continued to finish up some paperwork. He'd know she was in the building the moment she entered thanks to the wards, but it amused him to see her attempts to get past the rest of his security without being seen.

"The gang war is pretty bad. It's always pretty bad, but it's gotten worse now that the gang war in New York has spilled into Gotham City," Helena informed him, she watched Harry closely, who nodded. "And given that the Gang War in Gotham City is always personal, any attempts on their territory will be considered a threat."

"Anyone that I should look out for?"

Helena was only too prompt to inform him of the details. "Black Mask is the name of the primary mob boss in Gotham City, although there are a few people who are trying to cut in on his territory. One of them is Oswald Cobblepot, who's better known as the Penguin."

Harry had heard about Cobblepot, he'd been around for an extremely long time, in fact longer than Helena's father was. He'd been a big time arms smuggler based out of England, who decided to return to the city of his birth and take it for his own around the same time the original Dark Knight Detective started stalking the night. He had gone toe to toe with the original Batman more than a few times and he was not ready to give up his empire, even if his age was a bit more advanced. It was actually a wonder he was alive, considering the head injury and throat cancer he'd ended up suffering.

"Do you need any help?" Harry asked Helena and she shook her head, a smile crossing her face despite the fact that she thought that it shouldn't have been there. The dark haired woman's eyes followed him and he could tell that she was mulling over the situation in her mind. The woman's mind was going a million miles a moment and Harry could appreciate it.

Helena thought that whilst this gang war thing was a challenge, it was something that she had to deal with, even if the Master Planner business being brought into Gotham City complicated things. Yet, her father would have handled it on his own minus outside help. Obviously, the sidekicks didn't count since they were trained in house. The young woman thought about everything that had to be done and everything that she had to do. She understood that having help might not have been the worst thing but her stubbornness overrode all common sense.

"No. I don't need help," Helena stated firmly, but she honestly wondered why she was turning down his help. She placed her hands on the top of her head firmly and leaned back with a sigh escaping her lips.

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Harry asked her again, he always had to prod her to see if she truly needed anything. He could tell that there was some desire for independence but there was a bigger sense that she was in over her head.

"It's not as bad as it could be yet, when it is I'll let you know. Right now, I'm just here to give you a warning," Helena told him and then she paused, before deciding to address the other reason she was here. "Also I'm here to ask you a favor, something that I don't trust anyone else to do."

Harry's interest was grabbed by that one and he looked up towards the young woman. The heiress looked back at him and he raised half of an eyebrow before asking the question. "A favor?"

"Yes, a favor," Helena agreed with him, then she realized how that sounded but she managed to keep her mind on the business at hand. "About a year ago, I took in the daughter of an old friend of my father's after he died."

"That was nice of you," Harry said, wondering where this one was going.

"She has gifts that are much like yours, of the mystical variety," Helena told him in a lowered voice, getting straight to the point.

Harry smiled but kept quiet, he knew how difficult it was for her to admit that she needed help. it was a trait she'd inherited from both of her parents and because she was the god damned Batwoman now, she tried to live up to their example. Even though at times it ended up causing her more trouble than it solved. He kept his emerald green eyes locked on her ice blue ones as he waited patiently for her to continue.

"I trust you've heard of the famous mystic Giovanni Zatara?" Helena questioned him and Harry nodded to indicate that he in fact had.

The Sorcerer Supreme had mentioned Zatara when Harry met with him to ask about a reference that he found in a book. He was someone who was also a hero during the same time that Helena's father was or a little bit before. It was during a different time, some historians considered it to be the Silver Age, a second coming of Heroes after the Golden Age of World War 2, when Captain America was active alongside the Invaders.

"Yes, the world lost a great magical mind when he passed on a few years ago," Harry commented in a somber voice as he watched the heiress for her reaction.

"He was murdered, but yes, he was a great man," Helena agreed sounding a bit bitter about that fact as she watched him for his reaction and a somber smile went across Harry's face. "But his daughter has a lot of potential."

Harry thought that they were finally getting around to the point of this meeting. It was extremely hard for her to come out and ask him for help, so she wasn't quite ready to take that next vital step.

"And?" Harry prompted, inviting her to make that next move.

"There is only so much that I could teach her, even with the groundwork that her father gave her," Helena added to Harry and the wizard nodded towards her with a smile. The young billionaire heiress looked at Harry before she added. "Because, as you may have figured out, magic is not my area of comfort or expertise. I have enough of a grounding to recognize it, but I also can't use it. At all."

"And it can do so many wonderful things," Harry offered her and Helena continued to watch him closely, she was trying not to smile, she was trying really hard to keep a smile off of her face.

"Perhaps," Helena agreed, although her tone was very begrudging and Harry could tell that the woman was humoring him. "She's interested in visiting your school."

'_Or perhaps the person running it,' _Kitty suggested hopefully through the bond link but she could tell that Harry was going to let that one go, at least for right now.

She could sort of tell that there was a smile on Harry's face, but one could ever really say with him.

"Bring her here then, I'll be happy to meet with her," Harry commented to Helena.

"I'll bring her a few days, I'm sure she'll fit in with your school quite well," Helena told Harry and the wizard nodded with a smile crossing his face. She could tell that he was trying to work some of that charm on her and any other day, she might have been a bit more susceptible to it.

"I'm sure she will," Harry said back and she looked at him, before he crisply added. "And if you want to stop by, I'll be more than happy to give you the grand tour."

"I'll keep that in mind," Helena commented, she tried to remain stoic, although Harry could tell by the flashing in her eyes, she was keeping this more in mind.

Harry had business and so did she, so he made sure to say his goodbyes.

With that said and done, he made his way to the side elevator and with a smile crossing over his face, Harry tapped his hand on the side panel. The building, being his own creation, responded to him.

'_One floor down,' _Harry thought to himself and the elevator shifted.

Technically he could apparate down there, but he knew that sudden teleportation often startled other people. Therefore he made his way down the normal way. On top of that over using your magic tend to make you lazy.

"I take it you've had a productive morning," Jen stated as her way of greeting him. She was actually here to drop off some papers. "So with the restoration of the city complete, naturally someone tried to file a nuisance lawsuit claiming that their lost house and wages was your fault."

Harry sighed and offered one response to that. "Of course they did."

"They don't have a leg to stand on. Legally speaking," Jen informed him. "If this goes to court….well I've got information that this guy purposely got himself injured on the job and then…."

"I get the point," Harry replied with a smile as he kept his eyes on the woman in front of him, but he couldn't help but notice one of his newest interns, the one from Gotham City, out of the corner of his eye.

"He's a real scumbag," Jen said, but then she sighed and moved onto the next point. "Not as bad as Creed though….he suggested that I allow him to continue using the name."

"Well, he's the idiot who didn't trademark it," Harry told Jen but then his voice grew completely serious. "He isn't threatening you, is he?"

Jen decided to cut to the chase. "In a sense he is, but it's nothing that I can't handle."

Harry smiled, he knew that Jen could handle a lot, but he really hoped that she didn't get in too far over her head. Or, at least into a situation where she couldn't handle it.

After saying his goodbye's to Jen, who was in a bit of a hurry herself, the wizard spun around and made his way down the hallway. He saw her standing there. She had red hair that she currently tied back in a ponytail, vivid green eyes, a different shade from Harry's gorgeous emeralds, were behind a pair of glasses. She wore a tight white blouse that wrapped around her ample bust, showcasing her assets and topped it off with a pair of jeans that fit snugly around her tight ass. She finished it all off with a long white lab coat that nearly covered her assets from view.

"Mr. Potter, it's good to see you," the redhead commented, she nearly flushed from head to toe due to coming face to face with the man himself, even though she'd ran into him a couple of times before.

"Miss Isley, it's a good to see that you've been working hard," Harry told the redhead and she smiled shyly at him, she managed to look him in the eyes this time, which was a distinct improvement from the past two times they'd interacted. At least she wasn't addressing the floor.

Harry smiled, he could sense her nervousness, most females grew rather nervous until they got used to him.

"Well, a company like this, it's….well it's amazing!" Pamela commented as she locked onto his green orbs. It was really hard to look away from them.

"Oh, and in what way is it amazing?"

"Most companies….well they don't care about the environment, I mean you hear about all of the chemicals that OsCorp pumps into the air, thinking that they can make a profit off of them," Pamela told him with a really spirited tone to her voice and Harry smiled at her enthusiasm.

"It's one of the reasons that I set up RAO," Harry said to her.

"Right, and it's a good reason….a really good, really good," Pamela said excitedly as she kept her focus on him. She could have sworn that she never rambled this much under any other circumstances but yet here she was, tripping over her tongue and all of her words.

"Well, with bright young minds like yours, I'm sure that we're going to have ideas to go on between now and the end of time," Harry told Pamela and the redhead watched him with wide eyes.

"Sir, the end of time could be a very long time."

"But there's always a chance for progression," Harry offered her and the redhead could not deny this, in fact she nodded her head up and down in agreement.

"Always, always, sir," Pamela agreed with him, she was not about to doubt that fact even for a second.

Harry left her to her project, there were a few other promising females that had taken up residence at RAO. Gwen had a job waiting for her once she graduated from college, although she did not really need to prove herself that much. The Internship at Stark was giving her valuable experience and she would be a valuable member of his team, along with a few others.

Speaking of which, Gwen and Chloe were going to visit a friend of theirs who was flying in from Gotham City and Harry had promised Gwen that he'd put in an appearance. Needless to say, Harry was very intrigued about this woman and he never skipped a meeting, especially if a pretty girl requested he be there.

* * *

"It's been so long, about a year or more right?"

Gwen and Chloe smiled as they thought about it. Gwen was sitting across from a girl in her early twenties, actually thinking about it, she realized that she was exactly twenty years old. She had flowing red hair that was tied back in a ponytail. She had a blazing pair of blue eyes that shined expressively. She wore a black shirt that tightened around her body and a nice jean skirt that flowed down her legs, covering them nicely, yet showing them off at the same time. A pair of sandals allowed her nice set of feet to be displayed freely.

"Yes, something like that, you know when my dad and your day talked about….well their jobs, we hung out but that's been less and less often lately," Gwen commented with a sigh.

The redhead did not want to bring up the elephant in the room.

"Well, the last time I saw you, he wasn't on the scene for that long, but now he's becoming really well known," the redhead stated, hinting at the direction she wanted the topic to go and Gwen decided to play dumb, at least for the moment. A smile crossed her face as she looked at the redhead in front of her.

"I really don't know who you're talking about," Gwen commented and Barbara rolled her eyes.

"Don't give me that! You know exactly who I'm talking about," The redhead said.

"Spider-Man?"

"No, not that dweeb!" The redhead snapped, she was amused and annoyed by the games that Gwen was playing, although that allowed her to stretch her brain. "I'm talking about him! You know faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, he's able to leap tall buildings in a single bound….you know, Arcane!"

"Oh! That guy," Gwen commented in a half dismissive voice, knowing full well the effect that it would have on the redhead.

"That guy? That guy!" Barbara asked and Gwen smiled at her, it was one of those knowing smiles.

"Barbara! There's super heroes all over this city. It's not like he stands out," Gwen offered with a smile, having fun screwing with her friend's head.

Barbara shook her head, some people just didn't get it.

"He's saved a lot of people, he's inspired a lot more and he's made a lot of criminals shit their pants in fear," Barbara said in a gushing voice.

"Don't tell me you have a shrine to him?" Chloe said in a teasing voice.

'_Don't you?' _Gwen countered and Chloe looked at her sharply with narrowed eyes.

'_Quiet you!' _Chloe snapped and then she added with a smile across her face. _'Besides! That wasn't a shrine, that was a carefully constructed tribute. There's a difference.'_

'_Which is?' _Gwen asked, unable to resist needling Chloe just a tiny bit more.

'_There...there just is!' _Chloe snapped again as she threw her head back and sighed in exasperation.

Perhaps, it was just Barbara's imagination but she had this feeling that she had been missing out on a conversation between the two of them. It was farfetched to think that they had some kind of telepathic link but then again, she came from Gotham City, where the far fetch often went hand in hand with reality.

"Sorry, I'm late."

This caused Gwen and Chloe to sit up straight and they turned in their chairs to see Harry standing there behind them.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I swear! You get off on sneaking up on young girls," Chloe stated crossly to Harry, with narrowed eyes. His sudden appearance was causing her heart to race a mile a minute. At this rate she was going to develop a heart condition or super powers, probably both.

Harry went behind her, which caused the young blonde to shiver and Harry leaned in with a smile, before he whispered in her ear.

"Don't pretend that you don't like it," Harry whispered so close to her ear that his warm breath brushed against it, which caused Chloe to shiver, especially given the fact that his tongue was so close to her ear. The things that Harry could do with that tongue, it had been proven to Chloe time and time again.

Chloe was not going to pretend that she did not like it, rather she offered a smile.

"Harry, it's good to see you," Gwen stated, as she stood up to give him a hug, her breasts pressing against his chest and her lips coming a few inches away from his. She paused and saw Barbara's bemused and somewhat amused expression, so Gwen figured that an explanation of some sort might be in order. "Harry, this is Barbara Gordon, she's from Gotham City, and nearly as smart as I am."

"Just nearly?" Barbara mouthed, but she shook her head, as Gwen was obviously trying to rile her up.

"Barbara, this is Harry Potter," Gwen commented, watching for the redhead's eyes to flash with recognition and become wide eyed, naturally the desire effect was achieved a moment later.

"I know….we met a couple of months back actually," Barbara said as she looked at him. "Seriously, Gwen, you're dating Harry Fucking Potter?"

"You'd be surprised how often that I get that," Harry commented, and this was true more so in this world, where he actually managed to create his own fame, rather than be branded a savior with too many hyphens in his title by a world composed completely of dunderheads. He enjoyed the fame that he created on his own, without any intervention.

"Well you must get it a lot, for good reason though, I mean everyone knows who you are, you're on the cover of every magazine in the world," Barbara stated, enjoying a chance to get to know Harry a bit more after their brief meeting.

Harry closed his eyes with a brief smile crossing his face.

"Surely, you're…."

"Exaggerating? No, I'm not exaggerating," Barbara told him in an excited voice as she tried to get a hold of herself. Granted, she didn't try too hard, but her heart was beating a bit more heavily than normal as she was coming face to face with a true living legend.

"I think you might be exaggerating just a little bit," Harry said holding his pointer finger and thumb up with a small amount of space between them with a smile crossing his face.

"Yeah, but it's really not a problem, because Harry deserves it, for all of the hard work that he does," Gwen commented and Barbara nodded, she would not be foolish enough to dispute that.

"So what brings you to New York, Barbara?" Harry asked her.

Barbara was glad that he asked. "Well, Gotham City, it's not exactly a place where one can get much rest and relaxation…..you know with all of the gang wars, costumed criminals, and police corruption that's going on over there."

"And you came to New York to get away from that?" Harry asked but he then whistled. It must have been bad, really bad in Gotham City to consider that New York was a step up.

"Well, that sounds bad when you think about it,' Barbara admitted with a slight whistle as she shook her head. "But you can't deny that….well, you can't deny that things are getting really bad in Gotham City. Even more so considering that there's….that there's, some criminal from your city causing even more trouble."

Harry smiled and it was pained one, he got exactly what Barbara was talking about immediately, even though she continued to press on.

"This Master Planner, he must be big time if no one could catch him," Barbara continued but then she dropped to a whisper. "He must be getting cocky through, thinking that he could handle what's happening in Gotham City. The criminals there aren't like the criminals in other places."

Harry remembered Helena's warning; the fact was that the Master Planner's little side trip into New York could bring criminals from Gotham City here. New York had more of their share of costumed criminals and gang warfare, on top of an alien invasion every other Tuesday, so to add the fun and games that was Gotham City into the situation, well that was just asking for trouble.

Of course, trying to figure out what the Master Planner was up to, that was something that Harry had not quite determined. There was just something about this situation that was causing him to stand up and take a clearer notice of everything that was going on around him.

He enjoyed the day off a bit more, getting to know Barbara, although he had a feeling that he'd learn even more about her in the coming weeks.

* * *

To say a warehouse was in one of the worst parts of New York was saying something, but this warehouse was in one of the worst parts of New York. Hell's Kitchen really was in fact that bad.

The criminal showed up and the fact that no one batted an eye when they saw him arrive indicated that the people of New York were very desensitized to everything that was happening around them. They were not going to even bat one eyelash when they saw a man dressed in a white suit with a black mask over his face. The mask had rough features shaped like a skull although cold dead eyes that stared out of the mask didn't help matter much either. He cracked his knuckles together and then the man took a step forward, leading his men into warehouse itself.

"That son of a bitch better not double cross us," The man stated, as he fingered a gun that was in his jacket. He had come all the way to New York after this Master Planner bastard messed with one of his shipments. He got enough grief from that ugly bastard Cobblepot, he didn't need some mysterious Master Planner trying to fuck with him. "He said to meet us here, so don't try anything until we know the score."

"Yes, sir, Black Mask," one of his subordinates stated as he bowed his head.

Black Mask waited, soon enough, he would come face to face with someone. There was a stirring in the shadows, as a man walked out of them. He had a flat top haircut and a grim face, dressed in a pinstripe suit. He looked like he walked out of a 1930s Gangster Movie.

"Gentlemen, good evening," the man said as he looked at Black Mask.

"Hammerhead, I presume," Black Mask gruffly stated to the mobster.

"Ah, can't put one past ya," Hammerhead said as he turned towards his bodyguards, both of them looking intense. "Anyway, we've got a problem, the boss has got a problem, and his problem is your problem as well."

"Yes, that fucking Master Planner, he stepped into my territory," Black Mask grumbled as he could see a look of what might have been sympathy cross the face of the grizzled gangster.

"Silvermane has run New York for years, and it's bad enough that Fisk has taken over, but now we've got to worry about this Master Planner mook," Hammerhead stated as he looked at Black Mask. "When I get my hands on him, well it will be curtains for him, see."

Black Mask nodded, he did in fact see. His eyes flashed with fury as he thought about everything, how his plans had gotten screwed up. That shipment was important, technology that could be used to jam communication equipment, it would even allow them to fly under the nose of the Bat.

Now that the Master Planner had it, which made things even more frustrating. The criminal cracked his knuckles as he leaned back.

"So tell me what you have in mind?" Black Mask asked and Hammerhead smiled, he was waiting for this question.

He had plans, big plans, and even plans that would eventually displace his boss to allow him to become the number one top gun in town.

**To Be Continued.**


	12. Chapter 12: Some Call it Magic

**Chapter 12: Some Call it Magic. **

"You have the skills, you just need the technique to go alongside of it."

Nico closed her eyes for a half second, then opening them watched as Harry demonstrated what he called a simple spell. Of course, given that he was Harry Potter, he would be able to make even the simplest spells look utterly complex. That was just what he did, that was just how he rolled. The young magic user in training watched him carefully taking close note of his every action.

"You can definitely do this," Harry assured her with full confidence in his voice and she smiled in spite of herself.

The Star Child putting such faith in her, well that just meant that she didn't want to let him down for even a second. She would strike the target and obliterate it utterly. Technically, this was a spell meant to incapacitate an enemy, but put the proper amount of power behind a spell like this and it was bound to pack quite a punch.

"Okay, I can if you say I can," Nico remarked as her eyes flooded with both the adoration she had for him and her determination to please him. Her pleasure at having his undivided attention was obvious as she prepared to cast the spell.

Karolina watched quietly from where she sat with Kara, Alison and Wanda in the back of the room. Wanda in particular had her full attention focused on the lesson between Harry and Nico. It was nothing like the lessons that she had gone through with Harry, but then again, her magic was far different than most. There was a much more chaotic element to it and they had to carefully work with that factor every step of the way forward.

Which given how chaotic magic could be on its own, that was most certainly saying something, it was most certainly saying quite a lot.

"She'll do well, since its Harry teaching her," Alison commented, she was enjoying some much needed downtime. She felt that her touring schedule was a lot better now that Harry took control of her management. At least he had a sense and perception of time, which her former manager seemed to lack. He was not hurrying her off to different locations all across the country with little time for her to adjust and catch her breath.

"Yes, she will," Kara agreed with a smile.

"He is really great," Karolina commented as she surveyed him with a dreamy gaze. The girl's fantasies were getting rather intense as she followed his progress with a smile.

"He is better than great," Kara corrected the other blonde as she listened to the radio, even though the volume was set fairly low. And thankfully for her that it was, as the next song that came on almost made her eardrums bleed with how awful it was.

"What is that?" Karolina asked, wrinkling her nose as she heard that noise, it wasn't fit to be called music, bombarding her ears. Wanda was about ready to hex the radio on sheer principle, but it wasn't the poor radio's fault that such an awful abomination was playing over the air waves. Still what she was hearing, she didn't like at all.

Alison decided to enlighten them on the situation, although the knowledge of it's existence pained her. "That is the latest hit from Dustin Kieber, the new golden child of the pop music industry."

"It's hideous! Can't you see how fake and phony that song is! It has no heart in it! It's just mass produced to brain wash teenage girls!" Kara ranted as put her hands over her ears, to help block out the pain it was causing her. "Jor-El could have produced better music!"

"...Ouch," Wanda whispered, knowing Kara's opinion on Jor-El fairly well.

"Yes, his music….is popular despite its lack of quality," Alison said with thinly veiled disdain.

"You mean because it sucks!" Kara spat crossly, then crossed her arms over her chest. She was insulted that this tool bumped Alison's latest hit down to number two, even though the pop star herself was taking it in stride.

"You know, he's going to sell millions with music like that," Wanda commented in a completely stone cold serious voice and Kara glared intensely at the older girl. "And by millions, naturally I mean millions of ear plugs."

Kara relaxed a slight bit, she would have to agree with that, someone like that would sell millions of ear plugs so that all the sane people in the world could block out that hideously awful music. She knew that the song had to be over now, although it had already been on for several moments.

Back with Harry and Nico, Harry held her with his hands on her waist, her shirt was riding up a little bit so his bare hands barely pressed against her naked flesh as he situated her. Still the minor touch of his hand against her bare flesh caused shivers to go down her spine.

"Just focus," Harry breathed into her ear so only she could hear him. "You have to become one with your powers and everything flows more naturally from there. Just believe and do."

Nico Minoru believed and with her hand glowing brightly, she did. A careening force blasted outwards from her hand to impact against the target and send it hurtling backwards to smash against the wall behind it.

Karolina watched with a smile, the adoration never once leaving her eyes. "He is a good teacher."

"Good? He's the best!" Kara corrected the girl insistently. Kitty joined them at that point in time, walking in through the training room door.

"Hey, Kitty, how are you doing?" Harry asked, offering his girlfriend a hug and then giving her a nice long kiss, which she returned. It was so intense that Kitty almost forgot what she was doing and nearly lost control of her powers due to the emotional overload. Yet, she was able to shake it off and return herself back to reality or what passed as reality for her.

"Your guest is here to see you," Kitty informed him with a professional tone to her voice and now Harry was even more interested. He'd been waiting for one of the newest members of his school to join them and he could not wait to meet up with her.

"Nico, you did well today, take a break, you've earned it," Harry stated to her before he left the room and Wanda joined him, thinking that she desperately needed to escape the noise on the radio. It seemed like they were playing a never ending loop of aggravating noise.

"Those Keiber songs make me want to check myself back into the Asylum," Wanda said and Harry offered her a sympathetic smile. Making their way forwards they stopped when they saw Jean standing near the stairway, obviously having been waiting for Harry.

"So, now they're just being delivered to your door," Jean stated with mirth dancing in her eyes as she said that, Harry and Wanda laughed briefly before becoming serious as they made their way down the steps.

Standing there was a girl about sixteen years of age. Her sleek dark hair went down past her shoulders. The girl had the most alluring set of blue eyes that glowed with a stunning amount of passion towards Harry. She wore a black top that was modest but fit snugly around her pert teenage breasts. The jeans she wore offered a hint, a tease of an amazing set of legs.

"You must be Zatanna," Harry said to the dark haired beauty and she smiled at his acknowledgment.

"Yes, I am," She stated as she got her first up close and personal glimpse of Harry Potter. Helena had mentioned Harry before, she'd mentioned him a lot actually, but she had skipped out on several details that Zatanna thought to be extremely relevant.

"Welcome to the Shining Light Academy," Harry offered the young woman, who smiled and nodded graciously, hoping that he didn't notice her checking him out.

"I'm glad to be here," Zatanna said graciously and she said that statement with the utmost honesty. Taking a look around the school, she was kind of overwhelmed at first, she wasn't going to lie about that fact either. With good grace and an attempt at trying to keep it cool, she allowed Harry to lead her around the school.

"I'm glad to have you here," Harry said. "I understood its rough since your father died."

"Yes, it was, the first few months, thankfully Helena took me in, so things weren't too bad," Zatanna informed him as he walked beside her.

"This is Wanda Maximoff and next to her is Jean Grey," Harry informed the younger girl as he made introductions.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Zatanna," Jean offered her as she extended her hand in greeting and the younger girl took it, after shaking hands, Wanda and Zatanna did the same thing.

"It's good to meet you as well," Zatanna told Jean and she decided to ask the next question, mostly to get it over with. "So, only girls at the school?"

"Yes, it's the premier academy for gifted female students, even though that some would like to claim differently," Jean commented in a bright and bubbly voice.

'_I'll pretend that I didn't hear that,' _Emma stated in a light tone, although there was something about what was going on that amused her, at least for the moment. She closed her eyes, then connected her mind with Harry's so she could get a better visual of what was happening.

Zatanna looked at Harry and there was a sense that she wanted to ask something of him, but she couldn't spit it out straight away.

"So…."

"It's okay Zatanna, if I'm going to train you, you should feel at ease to ask me anything," Harry offered her gently and she relaxed at his words, feeling that she could trust Harry beyond a shadow of a doubt.

"Yeah, there's something I want to ask you….it's about my father's books, most of them got lost or were stolen," Zatanna stated and she could tell that Harry was all ears. "Helena tracked some of them down, but others….others she can't even find."

It must be serious when the World's Greatest Detective could not find anything, that much Harry was willing to gamble the farm on.

"Well….I'm more than happy to help you," Harry said and he decided to jump straight into the investigation. "Do you happen to have one of his books?"

"Yes, got it in my bag," Zatanna told him eagerly, glad that she took Helena's suggestion to bring it.

"I'm going to establish a tracking array, and with any luck, we'll be able to find all of the books before they fall into the hands of anyone undesirable," Harry told the girl who nodded happily in agreement. That sounded like a plan to her, better than anything that she could think of really. Harry was already getting down to business and that was something that she could appreciate.

"First, I'm going to run a scan over this book, to try and find any established patterns of magic that might match those on the other books," Harry said as he began to teach her process.

"Right," Zatanna nodded her head as she watched him eagerly, Harry began to make complicated hand movements as he tried to get things done.

Harry was intrigued by his findings, the books were on the move and now it was time to track them down.

* * *

"You know the score! We get our hands on the stuff before Master Planner does and we get one up on him after what happened in Gotham!" Black Mask told his gang and all of them nodded at his words. None of them were foolish enough to go against him because he could take them out like they were nothing and to him, they were nothing, they were less than nothing in fact. He barked his orders out angrily in a voice that left no room for argument. "So get going!"

"Right, right, boss, sure," One of the members of the gang stated, before he nearly tripped but thankfully he was able to maintain some form of balance. And it was a good thing he did, because Black Mask had shot his men for a lot less than tripping.

Black Mask waited, his men weren't the brightest in the box but they were good for throwing bodies into the line of fire if the Bat showed up. He managed to go toe to toe with the original Batman during the end of his run and managed to put a beating on him. Granted, Black Mask found himself on the inside of Blackgate for seven years but he returned recently with a vengeance.

They were here for a particular shipment and one of his men busted open the crate. He rifled through the books as if he was expecting to find something else below them.

"Books?"

"Yes, books! Something that you illiterates wouldn't recognize if they smacked you in the face," Black Mask stated in a snide tone and his men looked at him, shaking their heads. He knew that these fools would bungle everything if he left them to their own devices. He had to guide them, step by step.

His hair stood up on the back of his neck suddenly and the crime boss looked over his shoulder but saw nothing.

'_Yes, that's right, dance puppets, dance, dance like puppets on a string.'_

There was another chaotic element that showed up in the background and he smiled like a Cheshire cat. He had been looking for that accursed spell book for a long time but so far, three shipments and no luck. After Zatara's estate got ransacked during his murder, the books got lost when the people behind it scattered. He had been after those books for a lot longer than that actually and now all he had to do was wait for these men to shift through the books.

He stood there, with malevolent blue eyes and dark hair, with two strands of hair pointing up like they were devil horns. He clutched his hands together as he watched the situation. He was dressed in a suit and he had a cat familiar standing dutifully by his side. He needed no introduction but his name was Klarion the Witch Boy, he was the full on personification of chaos magic.

Now just he needed the book to bring a new brand of chaos upon the world and he was not famed for his patience.

"The real goods have to be here!" Black Mask snapped, he was about ready to wrap his hands around the necks of his goons if they failed him even a little bit. They all gave a grimace as they prepared to suffer the consequences for their failure and they ripped the warehouse apart in their haste to find what he was looking for.

"We're looking boss! We're looking but it ain't here!" One of the thugs commented in a panicked voice, nearly tripping over his words and Black Mask glared at him in anger.

Klarion rubbed his hands as he saw it lying. It was just within his reach, he was this close to wrapping his hand around it.

"Hey boss! Look at this funny book!"

Power glowed obviously from the book, causing Klarion to be both excited and agitated. He didn't know if the book was supposed to act in such a way, in fact he was about to lunge forward and grab it but there was some instinct that held him back.

"What the hell are you doing?" Black Mask demanded as he watched thug in question. There was no question about it, the gangster was about to step into some previously uncharted waters and he was not sure how much he liked where this was heading.

"I don't….I don't know, I can feel the power, and it feels great!" The goon cried out, his pupils dilated as the spirits in the book called out to him, ensnaring his mind and bewitching his senses.

"Hey, hey, hey, you don't have power!" Black Mask demanded.

The goon's eyes glowed strangely, he had been in Gotham City for years, he'd been shunted around from gang after gang, year after year.

Klarion got excited, he was intrigued to see what would happened. Granted, it wasn't going as he planned but who needed plans when there was chaos like this happening. His eyes glowed as he watched it progressing and a smile crossed his face.

"I have the power now! And you're nothing but a bunch of ants!" The goon stated as his eyes and hands glowed with eldritch flames. Floating up a foot into the air, he reared his hands backed and fired them forwards with a rapid fury.

The bolts of energy struck the goons and literally turned them into ants. The goon smiled as he looked at the open book floating in front of him, he was never going to let this bad boy go! He felt more at ease and more confident, his bloodlust growing as he watched the insects crawl beneath his feet.

"Oh you thought, you thought that I couldn't have power! But no, I have power now and it feels great!" the goon yelled at the top of his lungs as he floated a step backwards.

It was at that point Harry burst through the warehouse door, followed by Wanda, Zatanna, and Jean. The quartet slid to a stop, their mouths open in shock.

"Well, this is where you tracked the book, isn't it?" Zatanna asked Harry, looking over her shoulder towards him, but there was a sense that there was something in the air that should not have been.

"Yes, this is where….this is where we tracked the book," Harry said, the full consequences of not getting here in time reaching his mind, as he scrambled to piece together a Plan B.

'_I'm going to hazard a guess that someone beat you to the punch,' _Jean thought, as she heard weird chaotic thoughts in her mind that was extremely hard to piece together.

The fact that there were numerous cars levitating above the ground lent a certain amount of credence to that fact. Harry sighed, he should have known that this was coming and planned accordingly, now he had to play catch up.

Klarion saw the Star Child arrive and grinned wickedly, he'd wanted to match wits with him for some time.

* * *

"So, on a scale of about one to Armageddon, how bad of a situation are we facing currently?" Jean asked, deferring to Wanda, Zatanna, and Harry due to their magical expertise.

Zatanna's statement was breathless as she answered, although she felt as if it was only right to take some of the blame given that it was her father's book.

"Given that this is an untrained magical user? It's bad, very bad," Zatanna informed the group and Harry let out an extremely prominent sigh. Jean followed the first question with a second.

"How bad is bad?"

"Really bad! That how bad!" Zatanna told her with a great deal of urgency in her voice and Harry felt the need to face palm, at least for a second. They were stepping into really dangerous waters and he had no idea if he was going to be able to get out of this one.

Harry scanned the area for any chaotic magical traces but it was like trying to find a drop of water in the Ocean.

"There's Chaos magic everywhere, it shouldn't be….like this...there's no way it should be this bad," Wanda said as she tried to do her own scan , but came up with more of the same. "But…."

"Everyone on your guard. We're going to be stepping into dangerous waters, so expect anything to possible happen," Harry told the group urgently and it turned out that his hunch was pretty much spot on.

Harry narrowed his eyes as he took in the person who'd gotten hold of the book. He knew one thing for certain, getting the book out of his hands, that was going to be easier said than done.

He took a step forward, and then made a mad dash for the book. It was a good idea in theory but a lot less sound in practice. He was able to grab hold of the book, only for it to blasted out of his hands.

'_And that leaves a mark,' _Harry thought to himself as he nursed his burned fingers and tried to regain his bearings. He was going to go for the book one more time, consequences be damned.

Harry pushed himself forward, hands almost on the book, but he saw magical energy beams shoot out towards him, so he was forced to dodge quickly out of the way by diving off to the side.

"Don't you get it! Don't you get it! I'm not some dime store thug! I am pure power personified! I am the master of all this magic! I am the supreme sultan of spells….I am CHAOS!"

"Really, your just going to call yourself Chaos? How much more lame can you get," Wanda stated dryly as she blasted him with a hex bolt which sent him flying.

She knew that he would not go down from just that, it was too easy, too clean, therefore it was not about to happen. She waited for him to make his move and sure enough, the thug didn't disappoint, sending a series of super powerful hexes at them. The multicolored lights cut through the air and the group smartly dodged to the side.

"He's drunk on his power!" Zatanna stated urgently as she took decisive action. "DLEIHS!"

She put up a shield that blocked the attack, but sent them sliding from the impact. However, being sent sliding back was a few shades better than being ripped to shreds.

"You think….you mean getting to….oh that's….that's giving me a headache," Jean commented, there was something extremely chaotic that was interfering with the Phoenix Force, which was chaotic in its own right, and her own thought patterns. Jean could not put her finger on what it was however, but then again, she could barely keep her own mind under control right now.

Klarion studied the situation, excitement bubbling in the core of his very being with what was going on, soon the power would be his but he was going to let this loon take a test run and burn himself out first, which would be soon. Plus, he wanted to see how the Star Child handle it.

Harry understood what Jean was talking about immediately, he could sense another presence off in the distance and most likely it was a presence that shouldn't be here. He locked on the magical energy signature and fired off a bludgeoning spell. In fact, he sent three of them firing off towards it and the three shots careened through a shield with a terrifying amount of force.

The enemy in question took a bolt of force straight to the midsection and was sent flying backwards into a wall. Yelling out in fury he sent his own bolt of energy hurtling towards Harry, who was able to get a shield up just in the nick of time. He skidded backwards from the spell hammering against his barrier and it forced him onto his knees. However, this allowed Wanda to jump into the fight and fire off another hex bolt.

She was careful not to amp up the power too much, because that could cause reality to shatter around them if her chaotic magic met head on with this other force of chaotic magic. Still, she got in a good enough shot, which allowed Harry to jump into the air at super speed.

The book flew from the hands the thug and Harry tried to snatch the book out of the air, before it flew into the hands of someone else. The wizard barely missed grabbing hold of it and it landed directly on the ground at his feet. Only for a blistering shield of electricity to pop up around it, in order to keep it from his grasp.

"A noble effort, but I think that I'll be taking that book," A sadistic voice commented as the devil horned brat appeared in a flash of light, taking them off guard.

"Okay, I'll bite, who is that guy?" Jean asked.

Harry smiled although it was a pained one. "His name is Klarion, the little bitch boy, he's a manifestation of all things that are chaos."

"Well, well, the fabled Star Child has heard of me! I'm touched," Klarion stated with a sneer, after biting off an angry retort at being called a little bitch, he raised his hands high into the air and blasted several bolts of energy towards his adversaries which Harry and his girls had the sense to avoid by scattering.

Klarion's eyes flashed with malice as he levitated some items into the air. There was something protecting the book so that no one could touch it.

"What's happening to me?" The mook asked in a pained voice.

"You've overdosed on magic, too bad for you," Klarion mockingly cooed as the thug looked about fit to burst.

Harry meanwhile prepared himself for quite the fight.

* * *

He had to go forward and get his hands on the book before the manifestation of all things internet troll did. Nothing else mattered, he could take that fact to the bank.

"You've been trained by Strange?" Klarion asked as he tried to blast Harry but the emerald eyed youth dodged the attack. Another blast, another duck, then a block and Harry sent the attack hurling back towards him. Two spells shot through the air and connected with each other, causing a backfire that Harry had to block with a shield to prevent innocent bystanders from being waffled by. "The guy is good…..but I'm the master of chaos!"

"Master of running your mouth as well," Harry deadpanned, all things considered, he was really not in the mood to deal with any of this shit, at all. The spells kept coming and Harry had to put out a lot of fires. The book remained off to the side, so there was one thing he could take solace in and that was the fact Klarion hadn't grabbed the book, at least not yet.

Wanda smiled, so he wanted chaos, well she'd give him chaos. She usually didn't blast anyone too hard with her powers, for fear it would shatter them into millions of little microscopic pieces. Or rewrite reality or any number of messed up shit, that was always a huge possibility as well.

Of course, with this guy throwing around chaos energy like there was no tomorrow, there was always a danger of something like that happening anyways. So, throwing the most dangerous attack that she felt safe throwing, Wanda hurled a hex bolt at Klarion's head. He lazily blocked it like she was nothing but she kept up her attacks like a dog on a bone.

"Oh come now! You're going to have to do better than that!" Klarion jeered in a mocking voice as he enchanted several stone gargoyles on a nearby rooftop, then sicced them on Wanda.

Jean used a telekinetic blast to crush one of them and stop the others in their tracks, which allowed Harry to swoop in to take another one out, thanks to her telekinesis keeping it at bay. Harry's heat vision was good enough to disintegrate one of the other gargoyles, then he clapped his hands together hard and caused the remaining gargoyles to crumble to dust like they were nothing as the shockwave washed over them at point blank range.

'_So any idea how to take this guy down Harry?' _Jean thought to Harry but she could tell that his concentration was at a fever pitch.

'_I'm thinking about it. I'll let you know when I'm ready to pull a rabbit out of my hat or something,' _Harry thought to her gently, it was just another Thursday for him, but he was trying to do his best to make sure nobody died in the process.

'_Okay, I got you,' _Jean thought as smashed apart a second set of gargoyles by bashing their heads together.

Klarion's mind was a maelstrom of chaos, it was hard for anyone who could read minds to get a decent lock on it, not that they wanted to. It was a chore to even delve a tiny bit into that mind and he was starting to lose his cool. Especially when Harry managed to block his every move.

"I've got it! No! This is my book!" Klarion yelled out like he was about to have a temper tantrum, as he tried to push his way through the energy field but it was giving him a hell of a time.

'_Good. He's losing his temper, then again, so am I,' _Harry thought as he cracked his knuckles. There was no question about it, there was something problematic going on here and he was going to find out what it was. In addition to Harry blocking off Klarion, the book was blocking off the both of them. It seemed like the book had a life of its own.

'_I'd stay focused if I was you,' _Jean suggested to Harry and there was a sense that he'd just given her an extremely dirty look, at least this much she sensed through the link.

'_Yes, thanks Jean,' _Harry thought with a smile.

Klarion saw Wanda standing beneath him as she kept firing towards him. Her very presence was causing him to become severely pissed off and his demeanor changed to something more cold blood and dangerous.

"You insolent brat! You don't know what chaos is!"

"I'm not the insolent brat here! You're like eight years old, maybe ten tops!" Wanda shouted as she kept hammering him with hex blasts, backing him off slowly under the barrage. She was holding the line and keeping him from moving forwards. She was trying to get him to lose his cool because it was hard to control that kind of magic when you did.

"YOU WILL DIE!"

Klarion blasted her with a dissimulating hex or at least he tried to, but Wanda was a few steps ahead of her. She sensed the danger and adjusted quickly, dodging out of the way. She had to keep at least four or five steps ahead of him.

Zatanna felt like her nerves were on a hair trigger. She had to get to the book! She so had to get to the book, before time ran out! Taking a deep breath she raced towards it. Klarion tried to block her progress with two stone statues. They stood over her tall and imposing and she tried to recall everything that she was taught.

Chaos reigned around her as Zatanna prepared to disable the statues.

"You idiot! You're going to rip apart half of the city!" Wanda yelled as she tried to nail him with another series of hex bolts.

"Just half?" Klarion asked in a mock insightful voice, before he howled madly. "My! My! My! I must be losing my touch if it's only half of the city that I'm ripping apart!"

Klarion shook his head and he knew one thing, this girl, she was holding back and it was infuriating to him.

"You can't beat me! Let's face facts, you can't beat me," Klarion commented his eyes wide with rage as he arched his back to dodge another attack. "I'd give up! If I was you."

"You're not me," Wanda stated in a heated tone as her eyes glowed and she once again tried to rip him apart.

"That much is obvious," Klarion snapped at her angrily, only to notice a silver orb flying through the air towards him. He caught it in his hand and looked down towards it with narrowed eyes that were filled with irritation. "And what's that supposed to do?"

"Something like this," Harry stated as he whistled and a blast of stored magical energy was released that fried Klarion's hands. Every nerve ending he had spasmed in agony and he howled it out for the world to hear.

Harry would have liked to use orbs like that more often, but they took a long time to make and were expensive as fuck to create. He was working on a way to streamline the process but that took far longer than he could have thought.

Klarion screamed as Harry managed to get his hands on the book. It blistered his hands but he had to keep hold of it. He flung open the book and Klarion's familiar, hidden in the shadows up until this point, howled, and hissed.

Harry just needed to find the right spell to banish this little turd.

"No! No! No!" Klarion yelled in frustration stomping his feet as he felt something pull on him but he fought it, he was not going down that easily.

'_Wanda! Blast his cat with all you've got!'_Harry thought to her. _'It's his anchor to this world.'_

'_One blasted cat, coming up,' _Wanda agreed as she raised her hands and smiled. She was looking forward to this in some perverse way and she fired off an energy blast from her hands.

The blasted cat was in fact blasted and Klarion screamed as this was the final straw needed to pull him back to an unholy dimension.

Harry thought that this could have gone much worse, he was pretty sure that New York was returning to normal or what passed as normal for New York.

He turned to Zatanna, who bit her lip nervously, wondering if he was going to be critical. The pause was unsettling but as it turned out, anticipation was far worse than the actual event.

"Good job out there. A bit rough around the edges, but we'll work on it," Harry stated as he handed Zatanna her father's book. There was still a sense that there was something really wrong with it. But with any luck, they would be able to track down the others.

"I think that's pretty glowing praise coming from Harry," Wanda said and Zatanna could not help it, she grinned.

* * *

"So are all of your days like this?" Zatanna asked in an awed tone, she was not going to lie, she was looking forward to the excitement to come. The rush of adrenaline was very enticing to say the least and it got her heart pumping in a way that she never thought was possible.

Jean offered the dark haired girl a smile. "That's a pretty slow day for us, actually."

If this was slow, Zatanna was eagerly anticipating what an exciting day meant. The thought of what was going to come, well it just had to make her smile.

"Well, I think I'm going to enjoy this place," Zatanna said and Harry grinned at her.

"I think you'll fit in great," Harry said to her as she returned his grin.

'_If you're female and attractive, hard not to fit in there,' _Jean thought in amusement as she stepped back. She was actually teaching some of the younger students today, which was a responsibility that she took extremely seriously all things considered.

"So when do we start our lessons?" Zatanna asked Harry and his smile grew wider as he focused on the young magic user.

"There is no time like the present, isn't there?" Harry asked her and she smiled. "But, after today, I think we should rest."

She laughed, if that was not the truth, she had no idea what was. "Yeah, we do need a break."

Harry smiled, that much was for sure, that much was always for sure the more that he thought about it. Then again, taking a break was something that was more easily said than done for him, especially when there seemed to be so much to do.

"M'gann, could you please show Zee to her room?" Harry asked the Martian Girl.

"It'd be my pleasure," M'gann said eagerly, happy to help she motioned for Zatanna to follow, as she led her off to the room that had been set up for her.

Zatanna followed, she was sure that she would get some more time with Harry before too long. He was going to be teaching her about magic, which was far more than backwards spell casting as she found out.

"Harry?" Nico asked nervously and Harry turned around to see the young Japanese girl standing there waiting for him. "Can I….can I talk to you in private for a second?"

There was a look of apprehension on her face but also a sense of excitement in her eyes. Harry could figure out what was going on here and to be honest, he looked forward to it. He stared Nico down and the young girl bit down on her lip as she kept her eyes on him, butterflies flapping in her stomach.

"Of course," Harry told her as he allowed the young magic user to lead him off. He could tell that she felt like she walking on quicksand and nervous about what she was going to say to him. He tried to convey to her with a smile that there was nothing to worry about.

Nico smiled, she had thought about this, thought about whether or not she was a worthy offering for the Star Child. He seemed more approachable than most of the girls thought and while they plotted about how they were going to make their move, maybe she was going to take decisive action. She had been training within him for a few months, so naturally she felt like she knew him better than most.

"Sooo, I want to think you for training me," Nico said as she nervously reached forward and traced his chest muscles through his shirt.

"It's no problem," Harry stated as he gave his honest appraisal. "I saw you handle your staff, you're handling it even better than before."

Nico's mind had obviously been corrupted when she was at the Academy, because she was thinking about handling a very different staff than the one that she had been handling in the past. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel the rush coming from her loins. She kept her breathing steady and she trailed her fingers downwards.

"Yes, but I want to thank you! I mean really thank you!" Nico stated as she wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned towards him, giving him a sensual kiss. Her burning hot lips met his in a gesture that he eagerly returned.

Harry's tongue dove into her mouth and she closed her eyes, allowing the organ to brush against hers and that was the best feeling in the world. Nico's heart skipped a couple of additional beats as Harry continued to deepen this kiss and she leaned in closer towards him. Yes, this was completely amazing but Harry was not done with her, far from it. He slipped his tongue into her mouth and she closed her eyes tight, as he lifted her up and pushed her onto the bed.

"Are you sure you want this?" Harry asked but his hands were on her bare waist and his touch caused shivers to go up her spine.

"Yes, I want….I need this!" Nico begged him as she closed her eyes and his fingers skimmed her waist band, before they were about travel down to further pleasure her.

She needed this! She wanted this! She was going to get this!

His kiss was amazing, as he pulled her shirt off to expose her pert breasts to his eyes. Then the real fun was about to commence.

* * *

-**Snip-**

* * *

**To Be Continued.**


End file.
